Deck 12: Water Resources

Question 1

The creation of a reservoir because of a_______________ causes silt and sand to accumulate and it interrupts the supply of sediment to the coast, which causes expensive sand replenishment projects.

Answer 1

dam

Question 2

A(n) ____________________ is a canal or pipe that transports water from its natural place to a new location to serve human needs.

Answer 2

diversion system

Question 3

In the United States, which type of use accounts for the largest consumption of water?

A) Rural
B) Municipal
C) Irrigation
D) Industrial

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Excessive pumping of fresh groundwater in coastal areas can cause ____________________ intrusion into aquifers and wells.

Question 5

Most plumes of contaminations move ___________ allowing for remediation to help mitigate the pollution to the groundwater system.

Question 6

Industry and homes are examples of entities that would be considered ____________ because they use water and then return it to Earth locally.

Question 7

If you worked at a nuclear plant that had cooling systems in electric power-generating plants and the facility discharged water, the water from your plant could impact aquatic ecosystems in lakes or rivers because of what?

A) The water is full of uranium
B) The water is considerably warmer
C) The water is considerably more toxic
D) The water is considerably more turbid

Question 8

Congress passed the ____________________ in 1972, with the intent of eliminating the discharge of pollutants, improving water quality, and prohibiting the discharge of toxic pollutants.

Question 9

A(n) ____________________ forms near a well where water is withdrawn faster than it can flow through the aquifer back to the well.

Question 10

A leaking septic tank is an example of ____________________ pollution.

Question 11

Agriculture accounts for most of the water that is _____________; the farmers use water and then return it to Earth far from its source, which is called _____________.

Question 12

In the United States, some of the ____ regions use the ____ amounts of water.

A) wettest; greatest
B) driest; smallest
C) driest; greatest
D) coldest; greatest

Question 13

Globally, the majority of water is used in which sector?

A) Industrial
B) Agriculture
C) Domestic
D) Reservoirs

Question 14

Pollutants that do not decay naturally in a reasonable amount of time are classified as ____________________ pollutants.

Question 15

A farmer in arid or semiarid areas may experience ____________ when salts accumulate in heavily irrigated soils.

Question 16

A plume of contaminated milk that was spilled into an aquifer would be a good candidate for the use of _____________________, which uses microorganisms to decompose a contaminant in ground water.

Question 17

Dumping sewage, detergents, and fertilizers into water can lead to anaerobic conditions, which could cause   a noxious ___________________ gas that bubbles up to the surface.

Question 18

Larger lakes such as Lake Powell have a greater surface area, which means these lakes have a higher potential for loss of water due to __________________.

A) silting
B) runoff
C) salinization
D) evaporation

Question 19

The ____________________ comprises an arid and semiarid region between the western mountains and the 100° meridian in the United States, which was first described by John Wesley Powell and he noted that this region would have water shortage issues.

Question 20

Fertilizer runoff from fields is an example of ____________________ pollution.

Question 21

A ____ pollutant can be consumed and destroyed by organisms.

A) nonbiodegradable
B) biodegradable
C) radioactive
D) PBT

Question 22

Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, is known for being ____.

A) the western boundary of the Colorado River drainage basin
B) the site of the largest nuclear waste spill in U.S. history
C) chosen as the permanent repository for the nation's nuclear waste
D) the recharge area for the Ogallala aquifer

Question 23

When oxygen is injected into a contaminated area for treatment, ____ remediation is applied.

A) chemical
B) biological
C) atmospheric
D) hydrologic

Question 24

Which criterion must be met for a location to be chosen as a permanent nuclear waste repository?

A) It must be situated above Earth's surface.
B) It must be safe from landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods.
C) It must be located near the nuclear power plant that generated the waste.
D) As mandated by the U.S. Department of Energy, the location must be able to isolate radioactive waste for at least 500,000 years.

Question 25

In a fossil fuel or nuclear electric generator, an energy source is used to boil water to form steam and this can cause what to happen to the river that receives its discharge water? ________________

A) Warm the water and kill fish and affect their reproductive cycles
B) Make the water toxic that causes fish kills
C) Increase the biodiversity of life downstream of the discharge
D) None of the above

Question 26

What geologic reason caused the Teton Dam to fail in 1976?

A) It was built on clay that had a high porosity percentage, which led to seepage after construction
B) It was built on granite that was fractured that split apart during construction
C) It was built on permeable bedrock that was not sufficiently filled before construction
D) None of the above

Question 27

Wastes from nuclear power plants cause radioactive pollution because the cheapest cooling agent is typically what? __________

A) Groundwater and oceans
B) Rivers and oceans
C) Groundwater and rivers
D) Rivers and glaciers

Question 28

A person in an industrial urban society can live a clean and healthy life on 50 liters of water per day. How does this compare with the water use for an average American?

A) The average American uses about the same amount.
B) The average American uses slightly less than this.
C) The average American uses slightly more than this.
D) The average American uses many times more than this.

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of a biodegradable pollutant?

A) Human and food waste
B) Mine waste
C) Nuclear waste
D) PCBs

Question 30

Which aquifer could seriously impact the economy of the High Plains for agricultural and feedlot operations if its groundwater is depleted? _________________

A) Silurian
B) Colorado
C) Dakota
D) Ogallala

Question 31

Which circumstance will occur if the present pattern of water use of the Ogallala aquifer continues?

A) The aquifer will become completely depleted by the end of this century.
B) About half of the original water in the aquifer will be consumed in the next 50 years.
C) About one-quarter of the original water in the aquifer will be consumed by about 2020.
D) The aquifer will remain stable due to rapid recharge rates.

Question 32

When desert or semidesert soils are irrigated for long periods of time, ____.

A) the soil remains fertile and productive
B) salt accumulates and lowers soil fertility
C) salt accumulates and improves soil fertility
D) the water becomes too silty to use

Question 33

Dams cause sediments to fill up its reservoir causing the capacity of the reservoir to do what over time? _________

A) Reservoir becomes more shallow over time
B) Reservoir becomes eutrophic over time
C) Reservoir becomes full of sediment over time
D) All of the above

Question 34

Which is an example of point source pollution?

A) Fertilizer runoff
B) A discharge from a wastewater treatment plant
C) Pesticide runoff
D) Runoff of road salt

Question 35

Water used to flush a toilet in a city is pumped to a sewage treatment plant, purified, and discharged into a nearby stream. How has the water been used?

A) The water has been withdrawn.
B) The water has been conserved.
C) The water has been consumed.
D) The water has been diverted.

Question 36

If too much freshwater is pumped out of an aquifer that is located near the coast, ____.

A) a contaminant plume can form
B) saltwater may intrude into wells
C) wells will go dry
D) soil fertility will decrease

Question 37

The first step in treating a contaminated aquifer is to ____.

A) monitor the contaminant plume to determine its direction and speed
B) clean up, or remediate, the contaminant
C) develop a computer model to predict the future dispersion of the contaminant
D) eliminate the source of the contaminant

Question 38

Subsidence of Earth's surface ____.

A) can be caused by removal of groundwater
B) only occurs in areas that are underlain by caverns
C) results from expansion of the pore spaces in an aquifer
D) can usually be reversed

Question 39

An example of a nonpoint source of pollution is ____.

A) a leaking septic tank
B) a gasoline spill
C) fertilizer spread over a farmer's field
D) discharge from a factory

Question 40

The average residence time for pollutants is highest in which of the following reservoirs?

A) Rivers
B) Deep groundwater
C) Glaciers
D) Large lakes

Question 41

The 1972 Clean Water Act stated that the discharge of sewage needed to be treated before entering back into navigable waters since it is considered a pollutant.

Question 42

Which principle is used when establishing international water codes?

A) Water users in one country must not cause major harm to water users in downstream countries.
B) Water users in one country are allowed to build dams without notifying downstream countries.
C) Water use must be distributed based on the population of each country that uses the water.
D) Upstream nations have absolute control of water within their borders and have no responsibility to downstream neighbors.

Question 43

Future levels of human poverty will be increased by water scarcity and potential for conflict over the competition for water resources will increase as human population continues to rise.

Question 44

Invasive species such as Tamarix impacted the Colorado River because of excess sedimentation that occurred during flood years.

Question 45

Before 1961, the water that flowed to Mexico from the Colorado was high in dissolved salts that caused large amounts of people on that side of the border to get cancer.

Question 46

Because sediment was being transported in the Colorado and deposited in the Glen Canyon Reservoir, this reduced sand delivery to sand bars and beaches within the Grand Canyon, which impaired native aquatic life.

Question 47

The pollution of Love Canal, in New York, and the industrial chemicals that caught fire in the Cuyahoga River of Ohio prompted the federal government to do all of the following except what?

A) Prohibit the discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts
B) Prohibit flammable substances to enter waterways
C) Eliminate the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters by 1985
D) Pass the Clean Water Act in 1972

Question 48

The melting of large continental glaciers that had invaded North America at the end of the last ice age (Pleistocene) caused the initial water resources to be added for the Ogallala aquifer.

Question 49

Heat can pollute water because it causes typhoid and cholera to grow and be carried into waterways.

Question 50

A likely source of phosphates and nitrate fertilizers comes from agricultural runoff or from feedlots.

Question 51

The only feasible method for the disposal of radioactive wastes because of extensive geologic time related to the half-life of radioactive materials is to do what with the wastes?

A) Treat the waste with chemical reactions
B) Use bioremediation to decompose the waste
C) Store the waste in a safe place, and allow it to decay naturally
D) Recycle the waste

Question 52

A leaking septic tank is an example of point source pollution because it is generated over a known area.

Question 53

Arsenic is an example of a toxic inorganic compound.

Question 54

If a factory release impurities that could reduce the quality of water, what has the factory caused?

A) Diversion
B) Remediation
C) Withdrawal
D) Pollution

Question 55

Some of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States are deserts, which has led to water conservation techniques being required by cities in these areas for domestic users.

Question 56

Dilute acids and bases can be used for the chemical remediation of groundwater contaminants.

Question 57

Sediment is considered a nonbiodegradable pollutant because the material cannot decompose naturally like sewage.

Question 58

Persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals (PBTs) ____.

A) are biodegradable poisons
B) are nonbiodegradable poisons
C) can cause diseases such as typhoid and cholera
D) are most commonly found in human and animal waste

Question 59

Anaerobic bacteria can only survive in oxygen-depleted environments and an overabundance of this bacteria can lead to anoxic conditions capable of causing a fish-kill.

Question 60

When a cone of depression forms around a well, the condition cannot be reversed.

Question 61

Explain how technological advances have placed a burden on water resources across the globe.

Question 62

Explain why Teton Dam failed in 1976 and provide four reasons for the failure.

Question 63

Explain why there is a higher concern about nonbiodegradable pollutants as compared to biodegradable pollutants in terms of human health and the environment.

Question 64

Explain how Lake Mead lost 6% of its capacity in the first three decades after Hoover Dam was built.

Question 65

Explain how the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 has helped improve water quality yet has not solved this issue and discuss an example of a contaminant of concern.

Question 66

Explain why groundwater pollution can be dangerous or more dangerous than surface water pollution.

Question 67

Explain how the stopping of irrigation in the Great Plains would impact the United States economy.

Question 68

Explain how reactional and aesthetic impacts are caused by dams and provide an example from the chapter.

Question 69

Explain how ecological disruptions can occur when dams are built stopping the natural flow of rivers.

Question 70

Explain what the World Health Organization means by "reasonable water access" and describe how many people lack it.

Question 71

Explain why the excess amount of precipitation in the United States is not enough to support the water needs of our country.

Question 72

Explain how the removal of groundwater in coastal regions like Florida can cause water quality issues in aquifers.

Question 73

Explain how planned flooding events in the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam helped improve the sandbars, beaches, and habitat for native species in the Grand Canyon area.

Question 74

Explain how improved domestic water conservation practices have helped water availability in the west but identify and discuss one specific domestic action that uses the most water in these regions.

Question 75

Explain how excess discharge of groundwater can lead to subsidence.

Question 76

Explain how the Colorado River was divided into two basins for water rights and discuss ramifications of population growth to one basin that could impact the availability of water for that region.

Question 77

Explain why pollution controls are not used everywhere and correlate this to the economy of an area impacted by pollution.

Question 78

Explain why groundwater resources are at risk and discuss three reasons this is the case.

Question 79

Explain why beaches have disappeared along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

Question 80

Explain why lab rats are used to determine the risk of cancer from toxic pollutants.