Alabama Water Crisis Report 2022

Drought and Water Crisis of Alabama
Being a state situated in the east of 100th meridian, Alabama is one of the most humid states of
America. By particular estimates, one-sixth of the surface area in Alabama is essentially comprised of water
bodies, including lakes, ponds, reservoirs, estuaries, streams as well as flowing rivers (Knight, 2018).
Historically, the state has had plentiful of water resource by virtue of the great rivers—the Black Warrior, the
Tombigee, the Pea, the Cahaba, the Talapoosa, the Conecuh, and most importantly, the Tennessee and the
Alabama itself. Along with the rivers, abundant yearly rainfall and the vast stock of natural underground water
was more than adequate to meet the demand until a while back. However, significant changes in climate as well
as new demands for water due to urban development and industrial expansion have become major threats to
the abundant water resource, creating more demands for water with each passing day.
Although Alabama has experienced periodic droughts for at least a thousand years, none of them were
as severe and acute in comparison to the recent instances. The state came out of its most acute, 2-year long
drought in 2008. Even after that, Birmingham has had the second driest summer since 1990 in the year 2011.
Adding more concern to the existing woe, experts indicate that there are likely to be more instances of
droughts in coming years. Along with the rising pollution and water contamination, the water resource is also
crunching day by day as Alabama is overtly drawing down its aquifers. The current pattern of groundwater
resource suggests a severe lack of sustainable practices. In the past, the aquifers were recharged with rain
seepage and sewage. However, the contaminated dense soil now restricts the seepage. The saltwater intrusion
along the coastline of Alabama is expected to make the existing groundwater resource non-potable in coming
years. Moreover, the water extraction rates have increased exponentially in comparison to the existing storage.
Climate change in this context plays a crucial role in the groundwater storage crunch. Climate models predict
that the entire region of
Southwest is likely to face less rainfall in the coming years, along with a variation in the yearly rainfall. A study
conducted by an independent organization water health monitoring called Resilience Alliance suggests that by
2050, one portion of Alabama will suffer from moderate water sustainability problems with no climate change
effects, while a major portion of the state is going to face moderate to high problems due to the forecasted
global climate change. Nevertheless, the droughts are more likely accelerated because of the inadequate
planning in industrial as well as urban expansion and the staggering population growth way more than the
woes of climate change.
Introduction
The Black Belt counties of America,
including Alabama, Mississippi, the Central Valley
of California, rural Appalachia, the Texas Colonias
and Puerto Rico are facing severe water crisis and
water access issues. Keeping in mind the UN
sustainable development goal regarding water
access and sanitation, access to clean water and
sanitation is regarded as a fundamental right to
individuals across the world (UN.org, 2016). Despite
the emphasis and urgency to address the issue
across the world, Alabama, one of the prominent
regions of America, the most influential and
advanced nation, as well as one of the most
developed economy of the world, is still lagging
behind to provide its citizens the rudimentary
resources of water and sanitation. Recently, two
national non-profit organizations, namely the US
Water Alliance and DIGDEEP has revealed in their
reports that more than two million Americans,
living in these regions, are deprived of hot and cold
running water, shower, tap, a working toilet or basic
wastewater services in their homes. Among them, a
huge number of citizens do not en have the access
to clean water to drink or cook with. However,
among this two million people without access to
clean water and sanitation, a large amount of the
affected people hail from the Black Belt area,
consisting a vast majority of the people from the
state of Alabama (Uswateralliance.org, 2020). To
mitigate the crisis, several agencies and activist
forums are working for a long time now. However,
from the part of the Federal government, little effort
or assistance has been received till date. Adding
more worry to the crisis, the repeating droughts and
the notorious Tri-state Water Dispute are causing
more severity to the present condition, making
things worse for those who lives around the region
(Price, 2017). In the coming future, there are likely
to be more relapses of drought and water crisis due
to the impending climate change (Mishra,
Srivastava & Singh, 2017). However, the
administrative as well as the legislative framework
in the state appear to be acutely inadequate to
control the situation. Therefore, the state of
Alabama, along with all its citizen, seek federal
intervention and stringent policy implementation so
that the water crisis can be mitigated and managed
efficiently with immediate effect.
Alabama Water
Crisis
The present report
is an attempt to provide a clear picture of the
water crisis and the obstacles in the access to
clean water and sanitation in the state of
Alabama, with an expectation to reach the
relevant authorities who could act on the acute
crisis with immediate effect. Amidst several
developmental and environmental issues,
Alabama is facing a dire water crisis for a long
time now. Although much has been talked and
debated about the situation in both regional
and national level, there is still no effective
water management plan or policy to mitigate
the access gap. Therefore, the report aims to
investigate into the factors that cause the
severity of the crisis, while providing a
comprehensive picture of the water crisis.
Further, it evaluates the current legislative and
administrative frameworks prevailing in
Alabama in relation to the water management
and sanitation. Thereafter, the report will try to
come up with viable recommendations that can
be effective in managing the crisis.
Projected Effects of Water Crisis
The World Economic Forum, in its 2015 assessment of global risk, has ranked water crisis on the top of
the crises list for the time ahead. It suggests that the crisis has the potential to disrupt the economic growth as
well as have an adverse social impact across all the nations. With the exponential growth in population as well
as industrial facilities, the rising demand of water is likely to create an acute water shortage in near future
(WEForum.org, 2015). Although there is strong argument that the Alabama has more than sufficient water to
meet all the requirements, the factors of contamination, drying up of aquifers and most importantly, the aspect
of climate change have been evidently overlooked in making such claims. Moreover, the contamination and
restricted access to potable water also poses as a major threat to public health. Several water-borne diseases,
including dysentery, malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid etc. are rising in the region, so states the reports of the latest
health officials. Moreover, a recent study conducted by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
indicates that in the rural Alabama, there has been recorded a rampant spread of hookworm, a parasitic
disease usually found in countries in extreme poverty (McKenna et al., 2017). The only difference is that now it
has been found in a corner of America, perhaps the richest country in the world. This evidence emphasizes the
severity of the condition in the state of Alabama, for which immediate and efficient support is expected from
the relevant official.