Unfortunately, drought problems look to be here to stay. The West Coast has dealt with declining reservoir levels and water rationing for decades. The water shortage has now spread as far as the Mississippi and is encroaching on the American South. Drought presents a challenge to scientists and farmers alike, but new technology is rising to the occasion. Here are four cutting-edge solutions to help sustain the world through times of drought.
1. Precision Irrigation
The first logical step to fighting drought is looking at where the water supply is going. After all, it’s far easier to save the freshwater in circulation than it is to create more. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, 42% of freshwater withdrawals in America go towards irrigation.
A smart and easy-to-use precision irrigation system can make the best possible use of this water. What is precision irrigation? It’s a software and technology system for commercial growers that gives a new level of control over a farm’s irrigation and water supply. A precision irrigation system starts at the block level and the valves, themselves. Smart technology in the valve sends data on which blocks use the most water. It also gives pinpoint control that’s not possible from manually operating valves. Finally, a precision irrigation system gathers and presents data, including historical data from past years, that allows a commercial farm to craft a smarter irrigation strategy.
The right tools for farming are going beyond the physical and into the digital and data spheres. Many small and medium farming operations are constantly under economic pressure to cut costs wherever they can. Upgrading to smart irrigation systems saves freshwater and is a smart move economically.
2. Desalination
Desalination is a more intensive technological approach to drought. It’s the process of removing salt from ocean water and turning it into fresh water. Desalinated water is suitable for drinking and irrigation, just like freshwater. On the plus side, there is more than enough ocean water to use as a resource for this process. Unfortunately, desalination is incredibly labor- and energy-intensive.
Specialized desalination plants take ocean water through a variety of stages to purify and remove salt from the water. These stages include:
- An intake screening tunnel
- A pre-filtration system
- Thousands of reverse osmosis membranes remove salt from the water
- Treatment of the desalinated water to meet drinking standards
- Integration with the water supply
An outward-flowing system removes the salt concentration and other oceanic elements and returns them to the ocean. All in all, a desalination plant requires many megawatts of energy to operate and a significant cost investment to build. California has built desalination plants, and an adjacent wind farm even powers one such plant. As technology advances, desalination may be less costly in the future.
3. Stormwater Filtration
Another possible source of water is storm runoff, which is often contaminated and returns to the ocean. Biological filters and storm drain systems are able to salvage some of this freshwater and direct it to reservoirs. Future technology may be able to filter stormwater that enters the ground, as well.
4. Cloud Seeding
Cloud seeding is a controversial technology that involves the manipulation of clouds to produce more rainfall and snowfall. This process can include adding silver iodide and other compounds to affect the structure of clouds to encourage precipitation.
What’s the catch? According to Scientific American, one challenge facing scientists is controlling experiments enough to see if cloud seeding is effective. Since weather is notoriously hard to predict, it’s possible large storms after cloud seeding would have occurred regardless of the scientists’ intervention. New advancements in radar, computer processing and data technology are making it easier to research best practices in cloud seeding and weather manipulation.
Drought is a large-scale problem that requires action from multiple angles. The easiest way to fight drought is to conserve existing water. At the same time, more intensive methods may be able to increase the overall freshwater supply. Ensuring ongoing access to freshwater is a top priority for many scientists around the world.