March 1965 — Vol. 46, No. 3 —
Canada and the Hydrologic
Decade
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Because water is the central material problem of mankind,
the nations of the world have banded together to study it
over the next ten years. They call this operation "The International
Hydrologic Decade".
There is more water on the earth than man can use, but most
of it is salty and therefore unfit for drinking or for irrigating
crops. The small amount of fresh water that is available varies
from time to time and from place to place. What is readily
at hand is more often than not so polluted that it requires
extensive treatment, even for industrial use.
Up until now we have been content with short—run measures
involving engineering and management. As demand increases
its pressure on our limited resources the need becomes peremptory
for improved scientific knowledge. We do not know enough to
cope efficiently with complicated water problems.
The water of our rivers and lakes, if left to itself, would
be self—perpetuating, renewing and cleansing itself eternally.
But man has stepped into the scene and has upset the natural
balance. By his insistence upon unlimited freedom to reproduce,
and by his demand for an endless variety of industrial and
other products, man now threatens the stability of his own
existence.
The Hydrologic Decade is not primarily a time in which to
build great waterworks, but a time in which to learn the facts
so that building can be soundly done.
At the end of ten years of observing, recording, experimenting
and classifying by scientists from more than fifty nations,
it is hoped that governments and water management people in
every country will be able to think clearly and judge wisely
and build effectively to preserve the supply of water which
is essential to our human existence.
This is basic research, true discovery. The idea arose in
the minds of scientists whose studies had convinced them that
steps must be taken immediately to keep the earth fit to live
on. Up to now our water problems have been solved temporarily
in municipal, county, provincial or national spheres of authority,
but water is no respecter of man—made boundaries. A world—wide
assault is needed, with simultaneous observation and measurement
over all the surface of the earth.
Science itself is international. The late vice—president
of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences put it this way: "The
entire history of science shows that every national scientific
community has only been adding its bit, large or small, to
the great cause of scientific knowledge of the world, a cause
common to all humanity."
There never was a cause more urgently demanding international
co—operation than this study of water. The occurrence
and distribution of water in any country is a consequence
of the circulation of water on the whole earth. We need to
know the universal laws which govern this cycle, not only
in space but in time.
These involve the effects of the sun's rays, the evolution
of heat in the earth's interior, the precipitation on Mount
Everest and on Mount Logan, whirlpools in the stratosphere
over Antarctica, the discharge of rivers, the breaking away
of icebergs from the glaciers, the position and bulk of buried
salt beds, the minute movement of water through earth's porous
rocks, the direction and quantity of the great ocean currents,
the deluge which follows the south—west monsoon on the
borders of the Indian Ocean, the dust—laden dry wind
of the Sahara, and the many water—using activities of
mankind.
Above all, no time must be lost. Deterioration of our water
supply is proceeding at a disconcerting speed. The challenge
to protect human life by saving its most vital resource may
no longer be deferred.
Hydrology
The hydrologic cycle is the circular movement of water from
the atmosphere to the land, and, through a large variety of
processes, back to the atmosphere. Hydrology is the science
of water, its occurrence, circulation and distribution; its
chemical and physical properties; and its interaction with
its environment and with various forms of human activity.
Many aspects of the relationships of water and other things
are still obscure, but it is known that the most damaging
impact of civilized man on his environment is the shattering
of the hydrologic cycle. "It is possible," says William Vogt
in Road to Survival, "that this reduces the amount
of water that falls. It is certain that, to a critical extent,
it reduces the amount of water available to man." Were the
cycle to be stopped for some cosmic reason, all water would
finally come to rest in the oceans, and life could continue
only in the marine element.
Because these crucial facts are not generally recognized,
many of the adverse effects of man's activity were not foreseen
in advance of their occurrence. We do not yet understand the
forces with which we are dealing. Without knowledge we are
heading for more and bigger problems ... and for eventual
extinction.
The first thing to do is to gather basic observation data
upon which research workers can formulate principles and evolve
theories making it possible to predict water conditions. Then
practical application will open up new prospects and lead
to rational development of our water resources.
The preliminary work is not simple. We have too few men
and women trained in the science of hydrology. Recruits are
needed in this area of science which holds out great promise
of interest and achievement to existing and potential scientists.
This decade
The International Hydrologic Decade developed from discussions
during the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics meeting
in Helsinki in 1960; a year later the idea was endorsed by
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the
International Association of Scientific Hydrology (IASH) and
other international organizations; and when the preparatory
meeting was held in Paris in 1963 there were 48 nations represented.
At a meeting of experts in 1964 there were 57 participants.
This is truly a great international venture in scientific
co—operation.
Those engaged in the decade of observation and research
will be providing information on which the social, physical
and biological sciences may combine to do something effectively
about water problems.
The specific research programmes will differ from country
to country. In North America and Europe the emphasis will
be on sophisticated projects such as sediment transportation
in relation to the length of life of dams and the movement
of rainwater into underground water storage. In less developed
countries the effort will be toward systematic and continuing
measurement of stream—flow and groundwater levels so
as to draw up water budgets based upon the resources available.
All of this cannot be done in a short time, hence the ten
year period of the project. Rainfall and waterflow vary from
year to year in every country, and a decade is all too short
a time for adequate measurement. It is, however, a period
that will give enough information to make this a turning point
in history.
Just as the International Geophysical Year revealed dynamic
events in space, like radiation belts that wax and wane; deadly
protons shot out by the sun and drawn toward the earth's poles;
and the sun's eruptions of hot, magnetized plasma that may
provide clues to the harnessing of unlimited nuclear energy,
so this decade of research into water will provide new and
yet unthought of knowledge that will be vital to continuance
of human life.
In contemplating the Hydrologic Decade, therefore, we must
lay aside for the time being our small thoughts of local water
problems. The knowledge gained will be of the basic science,
leading to increased ability to bend the forces of nature
to the benefit of man.
Many techniques will be used. There will be networks of
observation stations recording rainfall, the rate of river
flow, evaporation, soil moisture storage, quality of water
and the amount of sediment it carries.
One project of noteworthy consequence will be the establishment
of international hydrologic stations to provide comparable
observations on a continuing programme at the same place and
time. This standardization of information will make it readily
useful to scientists of all nations.
Canada's contribution
The participation of Canada is of selfish interest as well
as being an evidence of international co—operation. There
are regions in Canada which have recurring drought problems
and others which are subject to floods. Much of our industrial
economy is based on cheap hydro—electric power which
requires a dependable supply of water. In Alberta and Saskatchewan
we have 1,500,000 acres under irrigation.
Someone has estimated that more than $3,000 million will
be spent in Canada during the next ten years on hydro—electric
power development, flood control, water conservation systems
and irrigation projects. International research during Hydrologic
Decade will help to ensure the efficient design and operation
of all these projects. By working with others we shall reap
benefits far beyond those to be gained by working alone.
Our contribution will include a national inventory of water
balance, and the expansion of our observation networks for
co—ordinating data. Special research will be undertaken
on the formation and melting of lake and river ice, the effect
of ice on river flow, the application of weather satellite
data for snow and ice calculations in remote areas, the techniques
for locating groundwater in the prairies, and the methods
of appraising stream—flow, precipitation and evaporation.
The National Research Council's Canadian National
Committee for the International Hydrologic Decade is the
co—ordinating body. This committee is made up of representatives
of federal and provincial agencies and of universities. It
has been assisted in its task of drawing up Canada's initial
programme by the Council's Subcommittee on Hydrology, and,
since glaciers form an important part of Canada's stored water,
by the subcommittee on Glaciology.
To fulfil its Decade obligations, as well as to manage its
own resources effectively, Canada needs a greatly expanded
observation network. A report to the National Research Council
says that there are no sizable areas in Canada which have
truly adequate hydro—meteorological observation networks.
In rain—gauge networks, for example, Canada lags seriously
behind other countries of comparable economic development.
New Zealand has 14.2 gauges per 1,000 inhabited square miles,
compared with Canada's one, and 6.1 gauges per 10,000 people
compared with Canada's 1.1. Comparisons with network densities
in the United Kingdom, U.S.S.R. and the United States are
much less favourable to Canada. The same situation applies
to evaporation, stream gauge and groundwater level networks.
Another major activity will be the setting aside of some
50 watersheds of moderate size, representing all the variations
of climate, geology, soils, water quality and vegetation found
in Canada. Instruments will be used in these watersheds to
measure precipitation, stream—flow, groundwater levels
and evaporation.
About six small watersheds will be used to determine the
effects of man—made changes on the water balance of natural
basins. Studies will be made of swampland drainage, tree—cutting
effects, irrigation, and erosion. Some basins will be selected
as what are usually called "wilderness areas". They will be
left undisturbed, except for the installation of instruments,
to give a continuing basis for comparison over the years with
basins subject to human molestation.
It becomes evident, from this partial list of projects,
that there is much for Canada to do during the International
Hydrologic Decade. One of the first essentials is to promote
the training of scientists and engineers in hydrology and
related fields. A series of training seminars has been set
up to provide some of the needed staff.
Urgency of the research
It cannot be said too often that fresh water is a critically
important resource, and that adequate conservation and wise
use of water will be a decisive factor in the future well—being
of mankind.
Everyone is aware of the progressive pollution of our lakes
and rivers, and the hydrologists are conscious of the danger
that threatens our whole water economy. What tends to be overlooked
is that the drain on water fit for household, industrial and
irrigation use is moving toward the perilous point of no return.
There is an automatic increase in demand for water due to
population growth. Because of this increase alone, says the
UNESCO Courier, in twenty years time we are likely
to be needing more than three cubic yards of water where two
suffice today.
The problem, obviously, is not one for arid lands alone.
In fact, the higher our standard of living rises the more
demand there will be for water to service homes, industries
and agriculture and to remove our wastes. The United States
Department of the Interior estimated water consumption at
a daily average of 359,000 million gallons in 1965, a jump
of 100,000 million a day in the past decade and almost 320,000
million since the beginning of the century. By 1980, consumption
will be at the rate of 600,000 million gallons.
Southwestern Ontario, almost surrounded by three of the
world's biggest lakes, has already tasted drought which reduced
its winter wheat crop and affected adversely the dairy business
and beef production. A year ago in Dallas, Texas, residents
queued up to buy water at fifty cents a gallon; in New Jersey
a leaky faucet could cost the owner thirty days in jail; in
other parts of the country schools were closed, industries
cut back, construction halted, and car washing prohibited
because of water shortage.
This international effort is, then, no merely academic exercise.
The absolute necessity of increasing the degree of rational
management of water, based on detailed and authentic knowledge,
is recognized. We need reliable information on which to base
measures to maximize the usefulness of water for the farm
and for the home, for power development, for navigation, and
for industry, while at the same time we minimize the adverse
consequences of floods, pollution, salting, and river degradation.
Desalting the sea
Every quart of sea—water contains about an ounce and
a half of salt, and no one has yet developed an economical
way of removing it. Research is going on along several promising
lines, but the solution is not just around the corner.
Only special economic and geographical situations have so
far justified the setting up of large desalting plants. There
is one in Kuwait, on the Persian Gulf. When the oil resources
began to be developed it was necessary to import water by
tanker, at high cost. Some large scale water distilleries
have been built, fueled by natural gas and oil, producing
more than ten million gallons of fresh water a day. Although
expensive when compared with the cost of water in other parts
of the world, in Kuwait the desalted water is cheaper than
imported fresh water.
Some people think that there is another solution that may
be effective instead of desalting. Desert herdsmen have trained
some valuable animals, such as camels and caracul sheep, to
drink water with a high salt content and these animals gain
weight regularly and breed normally. It is suggested that
water with a salt content as high as sea—water may be
used to irrigate farmland.
The ideal would be to so organize our use of fresh water
as not to be forced to call upon the sea for its expensive
substitute, and to preserve our underground water supply from
contamination by salt water.
Underground storage
The United States Geological Survey has brought forward
a list of thirty groundwater problems that need research.
One writer says that there has been no really fundamental
advance in knowledge of groundwater hydrology and hydraulics
principles in the past twenty—five years.
Almost all rocks and the cover of sand, clay, mud and soil
have some pore space between the particles which make them.
This may vary from nearly none at all in dense rocks erupted
from the heated interior of the earth to as much as thirty—five
per cent in some very porous materials. If the pores connect
with one another then water will be able to trickle through
them and the rock is said to be permeable.
This is the store of water which we, mistakenly, are inclined
to take for granted. It is 3,000 times greater than the amount
of water in the rivers of the world at any given moment in
time, twenty times larger than the amount of water in all
the freshwater and inland seas in the world. It can amount
to as much as a million cubic miles of water. Some of the
water in underground deposits may have been left there a million
years ago.
But to know these things is not to know in how far we may
depend upon the supply. We do not know exactly what happens
in the relatively thin layer which preserves the moisture.
What form, liquid or vapour, does the water take deep down?
What forces act upon the water? How long will this life—giving
moisture last? What part does a forest play in the passage
of water to underground reservoirs? These are the kinds of
problems which still have to be resolved, and which it is
hoped will be resolved in some measure by the International
Hydrologic Decade.
One thing is certain. Underground water is not a fully—renewable
natural resource. It tends more and more to be "mined" like
ores. If it is to be made to last for benefit of the human
race it must be recharged. As someone said, man is the one
disorderly element in an otherwise orderly environment: if
man's depredations are to be made good, that is man's responsibility.
His activities at present are withdrawing water from the underground
storage faster than it is being replenished.
Man and nature
Man must begin to show more respect for his environment.
As our technology advances we indulge in more and more practices
that are offensive to nature.
What are these practices? We change climatic and hydrological
conditions by the building and operation of hydraulic engineering
works; we build cities, clear land, and drain swamps, thereby
changing the quantity and quality of water in river basins,
in underground storage and in soil; we change the quality
of water through using it for industrial, agricultural and
domestic purposes.
Take as an example the pollution of flowing streams by the
waste from cities and the poisonous run—off of insecticides.
We know the value of clean water for human consumption, yet
communities continue to vote against proper treatment of sewage
and higher governmental authorities hesitate to say "thou
shalt not" to those who pour noxious matter into streams and
rivers. The International Hydrologic Decade will have served
a good purpose if only it brings responsibility home to those
who can do something to remedy this disastrous trend.
Pollution is not a new problem, but it is a problem that
is pyramiding with the sophisticated needs of society. Out
of the vortex of technological advances and urban expansion
have come an increasing volume and increasingly complex array
of industrial and sewage wastes to contaminate water: detergents,
insecticides, chemical mixtures, and the radioactive ash of
nuclear production. Even the oil—slick from freighters
ploughing the inland seas adds its menace, because by reducing
the capability of the water to absorb oxygen from the air
it retards the natural process of self—purification.
There is no suggestion that International Hydrologic Decade
will restore our polluted rivers to salmon and trout streams,
but at least it will inform us beyond scientific doubt about
what is going on to our detriment. It may administer a salutary
shock, quickening our desire to do something by way of worldwide
strategy and hometown effort toward making human destiny more
hopeful.
or else....?
What is the alternative to gaining this knowledge and doing
something with it? We read the answer in the ruins of ancient
civilizations, which were as advanced in their day as we are
in ours. Babylon and greater nations before her died in the
dust because they failed to manage their water resources.
The solution of water problems in times past was to migrate
to an area that had not yet been despoiled. Two hydrologic
scientists, R. L. Nace and L. J. Tison, take up this solution
in their article "International Co—operation In Scientific
Hydrology" and declare unequivocally: "After 5,000 years of
solving mistakes by fleeing from them, that solution is no
longer possible because there is no place to which to go.
It seems evident that man is approaching a crisis which,
unless adequately prepared for, could bring disaster within
the lifetimes of people already born."
Published by RBC Financial Group. All editions from the RBC
Letter collection are available on our web site at www.rbc.com/responsibility/letter.
Our e-mail address is: rbcletter@rbc.com.
Publié aussi en francais.
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