Water: Needed by All, Responsibly Used by Few, by Amy Harris

“We forget the water cycle and the life cycle are one.”
-Jacques Cousteau
The Great Basin watershed, a 200,000-square-mile area covering most of Nevada and many other western states, faces future dryness likened to the Sahara desert, Newberry Professor Wallas S. Broecker said. As carbon dioxide levels rise and the global climate changes, precipitation increases in the tropics and decreases in the desert.

“When the climate was cold, it was wetter and the lakes were bigger,” Broecker said. “As it warms, the lakes get smaller and it gets much drier. This is very bad news for the Great Basin. If we don’t stop putting CO2 in the air, living in the Great Basin in 30 years will be like living in the Sahara.”

Broecker spoke at the International Symposium on Terminus Lakes on Oct. 27-29 at the University of Nevada, Reno. The event focused on different areas of scientific research, notably among the connection of global water rhythms, climate change and local water issues.

The Great Basin watershed provides water to all of Reno, fisheries, reservations and croplands. The drying out of this invaluable resource threatens the existence of life in the area. Studies of terminus lakes in the Great Basin are needed to predict future changes and to improve local water management Stephen Wells, Desert Research Institute President said.

“Terminus lakes and watersheds hold clues to past climates,” Wells said. “That record can help predict the future, especially when we’re dealing with climate change.”

Predictions concerning the watershed are obtained by studying the history of the terminal lakes and the global relationship of moisture levels and CO2 content in the atmosphere.

“Despite what your weather man says, the world is warming,” Broecker said. “The northern hemisphere is going to warm faster than the southern hemisphere and this makes a difference in tropical rainfall and wind belts.”

The change in tropical rainfall and wind belts is significant because, globally, water systems are linked. For example when the Great Basin experiences a dry spell, the monsoons in China are stronger, and when the Basin is wetter, China monsoons are weaker. As temperatures rise, the trends shift towards less precipitation in arid climates, and more precipitation in wet climates.

“I fear, though can’t prove, that the change in the future is toward dryness,” Broecker said. “And you should all be prepared for that.”

Scientists and students conduct ongoing research on the Great Basin watershed. UNR graduate student Jasmine Vittori, 27, studies the upper Walker River basin using tree ring dating to determine past precipitation data. The ring dating shows that the major threat to water resources is climate change, Vittori said.

“To date there hasn’t been a great change in the amount of precipitation,” Vittori said. The type of precipitation and when it occurs has changed, which effects water availability in the area, she said. “When there is less snow and more rain we lose a natural reservoir in the form of snow during the dry summer months and this affects how much water is available.”

Decreasing water availability effects everyone in the local ecosystem, Vittori said. Water is indispensable for life, and this reality is unavoidable.

“Water effects all of us, period,” Vittori said. “You can’t escape it. On some level everyone can relate.”

Water availability in the West is already a limited resource, Vittori’s adviser Laurel Saito said. Predicting water trends with tree ring models provides clues for the future of water availability. While the data supports climate change, inaccuracy may exist in the models.

“There’s uncertainty in our models,” Saito said. “So the question is do you go and spend tons of money trying to address a problem that may not exist? The data we’ve been gathering supports climate change. What’s the risk if we don’t do something and what is the risk if we do? People are frustrated that scientists can’t come up with strict yes or no answers.”

If the trends in climate change are true, inaction results in less water and the endangerment of people’s lives, Saito said. Saito remains hopeful that however dire the future may look, people are capable of making a positive difference and changing their behavior.

“I think we have the capability to address these problems,” Saito said. “Some has to do with more education, and more people need to go into science instead of thinking of it as a bad word. We can live within our natural environment. The problem is when people think we can manipulate it.”

The way scientific data concerning the environment reach the public is also an important tool for garnering action from the community.

“We have to be telling our story in a way that people will listen to,” Saito said. “Not in a way that alienates them.”

The Student Association for International Water Issues (SAIWI) communicates its story through a series of workshops and events that raise awareness about water issues. The group holds events such as an annual African dinner that focuses not only on sustainable water practices, but culture, food and dance as well.

SAIWI President Katie Mann said the goal of the group is getting people aware of their surroundings, understanding the ecosystem they live in and their effect on the environment.

“When people are aware, the decisions they make might change,” Mann said. “Their behavior may change and at the very least, awareness makes them think instead of being totally oblivious.”

Increasing the awareness of water issues in Reno includes informing people that the water comes from the Truckee River and is a finite resource, Mann said.

Using this resource responsibly in combination with decreasing global climate change is essential to slowing catastrophic drying trends that would make Nevada uninhabitable, Broecker said.

“If we are going to quell rising CO2 levels we better damn well get to it,” Broecker said. “It’s a huge challenge we face. There has been a lot of big talk and not a lot of big action so far.”