Report on the Alabama Water Crisis: Challenges and Potential Solutions

This report comprehensively analyzes the water crisis in Alabama, highlighting its severity and multifaceted causes. It delves into the issues of drought, pollution from coal mining, and the impact of climate change on water resources. The report examines the inadequacy of current legislative and administrative frameworks in addressing the crisis, particularly in the Black Belt counties. It explores the effects on public health, including the spread of waterborne diseases and parasitic infections. Furthermore, the report evaluates the role of climate change and sustainability concerns, emphasizing the need for efficient water management plans and policy implementation. The report provides recommendations to improve water resource management, including modernizing regulations, empowering relevant agencies, and supporting local organizations to ensure access to clean and sustainable water resources. The report emphasizes the need for federal intervention and stringent policy implementation so that the water crisis can be mitigated and managed efficiently with immediate effect.

Drought and Water Crisis of Alabama
Being a state situated in the east of 100th meridian, Alabama is one of the most h
America. By particular estimates, one-sixth of the surface area in Alabama is essentially c
bodies,includinglakes,ponds,reservoirs,estuaries,streamsas well as flowingrivers (Knight,2018).
Historically, the state has had plentiful of water resource by virtue of the great rivers—the
Tombigee, the Pea, the Cahaba, the Talapoosa, the Conecuh, and most importantl
Alabama itself. Along with the rivers, abundant yearly rainfall and the vast stock of natura
was more than adequate to meet the demand until a while back. However, significant cha
as new demands for water due to urban development and industrial expansion have beco
the abundant water resource, creating more demands for water with each passing day.
Although Alabama has experienced periodic droughts for at least a thousand year
as severe and acute in comparison to the recent instances. The state came out of its mos
drought in 2008. Even after that, Birmingham has had the second driest summer since 19
Adding more concern to the existing woe, experts indicate that there are likely to
droughts in coming years. Along with the rising pollution and water contamination, the wa
crunching day by day as Alabama is overtly drawing down its aquifers. The current patter
resource suggests a severe lack of sustainable practices. In the past, the aquifers
seepage and sewage. However, the contaminated dense soil now restricts the seepage. T
along the coastline of Alabama is expected to make the existing groundwater resource no
years. Moreover, the water extraction rates have increased exponentially in comparison
Climate change in this context plays a crucial role in the groundwater storage crunch. Clim
that the entire region of
Southwest is likely to face less rainfall in the coming years, along with a variation in the y
conducted by an independent organization water health monitoring called Resilience All
2050, one portion of Alabama will suffer from moderate water sustainability problems wit
effects, while a major portion of the state is going to face moderate to high problems due
global climate change. Nevertheless, the droughts are more likely accelerated beca
planning in industrial as well as urban expansion and the staggering population growth w
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
wateraccessissues.Keepingin mind the UN
sustainabledevelopmentgoal regardingwater
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
regionsof America,the most influentialand
advancednation,as well as one of the most
developed economy of the world, is still lagging
behindto provideits citizensthe rudimentary
resources of water and sanitation. Recently, two
national non-profit organizations, namely the US
Water Alliance and DIGDEEP has revealed in their
reportsthat 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 cleanwaterto drink or cook with.However,
among this two million people without access to
clean water and sanitation, a large amount of the
affectedpeoplehail from the Black Belt area,
consisting a vast majority of the people from the
state of Alabama (Uswateralliance.org, 2020). To
mitigatethe crisis, severalagenciesand 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 severityto the presentcondition,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,alongwith all its citizen,seekfederal
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 waterand sanitationin the stateof
Alabama,with an expectationto reach the
relevant authorities who could act on the acute
crisis with immediateeffect.Amidstseveral
developmentaland environmentalissues,
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
investigateinto the factorsthat causethe
severityof the crisis, while providinga
comprehensivepictureof the water crisis.
Further, it evaluates the current legislative and
administrativeframeworks 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 wat
the crises list for the time ahead. It suggests that the crisis has the potential to disrupt th
well as have an adverse social impact across all the nations. With the exponential growth
as industrial facilities, the rising demand of water is likely to create an acute water shorta
(WEForum.org, 2015). Although there is strong argument that the Alabama has more than
meet all the requirements, the factors of contamination, drying up of aquifers and most im
of climate change have been evidently overlooked in making such claims. Moreover, the c
restricted access to potable water also poses as a major threat to public health. Several w
including dysentery, malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid etc. are rising in the region, so states the
health officials. Moreover, a recent study conducted by the American Society of Tropical M
indicates that in the rural Alabama, there has been recorded a rampant spread of
disease usually found in countries in extreme poverty (McKenna et al., 2017). The only di
has been found in a corner of America, perhaps the richest country in the world. This evid
severity of the condition in the state of Alabama, for which immediate and efficient suppo
the relevant official.

Coal Mining-The Biggest Threat to Alabama’s Water
Resource
Alabama has a long history of facilitating coal
mining around the region. The Black Warrior River
watershed is one of the largest coal producing areas
of the Southern region, which has more than 100
permitted mining pits. However, the coal mines are
purportedly the single biggest threat to the water
resource via pollution, contamination and
nonetheless, massive water consumption. Due to the
strip mining and undergroundmining of coal,
majority of the streams in Alabama are polluted with
heavy metals, run-off carrying acids and sediments.
The chemical waste are often emptied in the nearby
water bodies,which not only makesthe water
contaminated and non-potable, but also affects the
marine ecology to a severe extent. The Moreover,
power plants and coal mines are often charged with
alteringthe surroundingenvironmentdue to the
resultant coal ash and burning of coals, resulting in
heavymetal sedimentationand greenhousegas
emission.
Existing Water Laws and Managements in Alabama
Unlike many of the humid states, Alabama has never en
develop or adopted a modern comprehensive statute to manag
water consumption and use. However, the primary water-r
Alabama Water Resources Act (AWRA), disavows any inten
change the existing water rights, conferred by the commo
follows the common law riparian doctrine to determine the lega
context of surface water. The common law, in its originality, is d
1700s English Law. It associates the right to use of water
ownership abutting the water. The term ‘riparian’
technically refers to flowing freshwater sources, specifically
rivers, while lakes are referred by ‘littoral’. However, in the pre
‘riparian’ encompasses them all, and the only way to obtain rip
is through owning riparian property. The non-riparian has
convert surface water to consumptive use. The English rip
stipulated a ‘natural flow’ mandate that imposed a ban on
diversionof any stream,or makingany alterationagainstits natural
condition. The rationale of this riparian model was to restrict th
only those living by the banks or the shores of ten water bodies
model is not ultimately feasible as it overlooks the aspect of us
water body in question is contaminated, by no means can it be
owners. Moreover, the riparian model is only effective in region
of water resources. In the advent of droughts major and
dispute among citizens is likely to increase due to shortage of p
(Elliott, 2011).
For groundwater sources, Alabama follows the so-called
reasonable use rule” to regulate and govern the groundwa
However,the regulationis quietvaguein determiningthe ‘reasonable
amountand hence,is ineffective.The primarylimitationthat the rule
imposes indicates that only the owners overlying the resource h
to use and consume it, only on the overlying territory. Th
prevents pumping groundwater for futile or malicious purposes
these minimal limitations, the rule does not really impose
managementpolicy,neitherensureany sustainableuse (Elliott,2016).
Althoughthe ADEM arguesthat Alabamahas more than sufficient
groundwater resource to sustain three more millennia, it e
the changing usage pattern and the consequences of the impe
change, drying up the natural aquifers (Andreen, 2016). Hence
policy for sustainable usage and monitoring should be places w
effect.
Alabama enacted the AWRA in 1993 and created an Offi
Resources (OWR) to monitor and issue Certificate of Use to bot
non-public water usage. However, AWRA provides limited g
issuanceof the COUs,and relies heavilyon the justificationsof the
applicants. OWR’s role, in this context,
is majorly advisory, and has little to no power in managing wat
(Elliott, 2011).
Water and Energy Generation
More than 50% of Alabama’s energy sources are generated from
thermal and nuclear power plants, and both of the plants require large quantity
of water in production and maintenance. More the 83% of water extracted are
used for cooling the plants. Although 90% of the amount are returned, the
volume that is lost during the process is sufficient to have major impacts
duringthe periodsof watershortageand droughts.On the other hand,
hydropower accounts only for 5% of energy in the region, although it requires
damming the lakes and rivers. Subsequently, the water evaporated from these
hydropower reservoirs is also another source of water loss from the natural
system (Olsson, 2015).
Climate Change and Sustainability Concerns
At a time when the world is facing major
threats of sustainability issues, Alabama is growing in
an unprecedented rate without a proper development
planning, way faster than the national average. The
projectedeconomicgrowth,despitethe limited
security of the sustainable water resources, seeks to
develop corporate headquarters,manufacturing
facilitiesand other job-creatingopportunitiesto
compete with the expanding global market. Moreover,
the recentproposalto dramaticallyexpandthe
irrigated agriculture in the region add more to the
environmentalconcerns,threateningthe water
sustainability even more. Due to these issues, the
demand for water has increased in manifold ways,
while the availability is rapidly declining.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The evaluation of the present scenario of the water crisis in Alabama calls for
an efficient water management plan. While most of the states in America,
including the states currently in dispute over water distribution with Alabama,
have a comprehensive water management plan and subsequent legislative
framework to enforce it, Alabama is yet to receive any support from its relevant
authority. The honorable Governor of the state, Mrs Kay Ivey, is herself reluctant
to accept the dire crisis, let alone other federal officials
(Southernenvironment.org, 2017). With the federal
government disbursing more responsibility and authority to manage natural
resources, Mrs Ivey, as the head of the state, has to be brought on board to
spearhead the initiative. The first task in this regard is to develop an efficient,
sustainable and pragmatic water management plan to be enacted across the
state. To this end, the outdated regulations and doctrines are to be reimagined
and restructured. The Permanent Joint Legislative Committee on Water Policy
and Management has to come forward and pick up the task where it left off.
While developing a new plan, the OWR has to be provided with more authority
in monitoring, assessing and acting on the applications for certificate of use.
Also, the local organizations working to secure the access to clean water for the
citizens have to be provided more support, and they could be involved in the
process of developing a plan with their first-hand experience in working in the
field. The end goal, however, is to ensure that all the sources of freshwater are
safe and used responsibly, and are able to withstand any challenges brought
about by climate change, drought or water disputes with the neighbouring
regions.
Total Freshwater Withdrawals in Alabama, 2015
(Source: Alabama Water Use Report 2016)

References
Andreen, W. L. (2016). Alabama Water Law.
Elliott, H. (2011). Alabama's Water Crisis. Ala. L. Rev., 63, 383.
Elliott, H. (2016). The failings of Alabama water law. Ala. L. Rev., 68, 7
McKenna, M. L., McAtee, S., Bryan, P. E., Jeun, R., Ward, T., Kraus, J., .
R. (2017). Human intestinal parasite burden and poor sanitation in rur
Alabama. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 97(
1623-1628.
WEForum.org. (2015). Global Risks 2015 10th Edition. Retrieved 18 A
from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Risks_2015_Report1