Running head: DANGER OF DROUGHTS

The Danger of Droughts

Jared Hernandez
The University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1301
Vierra
11/14/15

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Abstract
Droughts are dangerous, therefore it is important to know about them in order to
minimize their destructive power and for this reason a variety of sources will be put into
conversations. Having a variety of sources in a conversation is an excellent way creating new
knowledge. Although two sources might have the same topic they can still have different
information do to the authors unique focus and knowledge. Understanding droughts is important
as their frequency and devastating effects, that can last a long time, have increase do to global
warming. This is important to El Paso because although it is safe from a drought as to date,
eventually it will be affect by one. The increase on droughts is really dangerous, especially
because droughts were underestimated before and so there is not as much preparation as there
should be. In order to solve this issue the government is do in extensive research and has
implemented method to cope with effects of droughts.

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Introduction
Droughts are dangerous, therefore it is important to know about them, and for this reason
I will put variety of sources in conversation to get a better understanding of droughts from a lot
of different perspectives. Droughts have devastating effects that causes harm not only on the
place they hit but in the overall economy, and occurred do to many factors. Now more than ever
droughts are likely to happen do to the increase on temperature and population. This is important
because droughts are extremely dangerous. This means that even El Paso will face a drought, this
will change the way we live our daily life and our economy. Many factors are being implemented
to decrease the probably of a drought, although they do not prevent droughts they decrease their
damage, this is important do to how dangerous droughts are.
The subject of droughts is a complicated one. Some people have spent their entire live
studding them. In order to accomplish the goal of knowing about droughts there will be 4
research question to answer.
1. What are droughts?
2. Are droughts more dangerous now?
3. How will a drought affect El Paso?
4. How are we preparing to deal with droughts?
Those questions when answer will give me crucial information on what are droughts,
their increase on droughts and their effects, how a drought will affect El Paso, and most
importantly how to prevent them. The questions will also keep my research on track and focus
without deviating to information that would not be useful to this paper.
What are Droughts?

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Droughts are a type of natural disaster that occur when water resources decrease. They
occurre due to many different factors that work together to make a drought. Droughts have many
effects that can leave an impact not only in the way people live, but in the economy.
Natural disasters for the most part have extreme effects but do not last long. Droughts are
a special type of natural disaster because their effects occur slowly but last a long time as it is
shown on the graphs put together by the author with number taken from the El Paso Water
Utilities that show how it took 5 years for El Paso to recover from a drought (figure 1).
Figure 1. this graphs depict how it took 5 years for El Paso to recover from a drought

Gallons of Water Pump (in Millions) Gallons of Water Pump (in Millions)
40,000

40,000

38,000

38,000

36,000

36,000

34,000

34,000

32,000

32,000

The water cycle is essential to our survival and is closely related to droughts. It is so
important, that it has song written about it so that everyone can understand it, such as Zarets
(2012) The Water Cycle. German explains (2009) an important part of the water cycle stating
that heat makes water evaporate into steam, this steam later cools down into a cloud, this cloud

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later make rain. This cycle is important and should not be disturbed (1). Archers Global
Warming: Understanding the Forecast (2007) shows why the water cycle should not be
disturbed, as it stated that climate change is missing with this cycle by making water evaporate
quicker and cool down slower, rearranging the rain fall distribution and increasing the chances of
a drought occurring (194). Do to this and other factors, Archer, Tannehill (1947) concluded that
droughts have no apparent patterns do to their many factors that cause them and therefore they
cannot be predicted (33).
Droughts have many effects ranging from minor annoyances all the way to life changing,
we are not the only ones affected by droughts, the environment is also affected. The
Kuramangass video (2013) is a great example of the common effects of droughts as it shows
that a drought changes the way people live their day because they cannot use much water (1:10).
Others will be affected to a greater extent, Such effects are shown in the Flyngmulefarm video
(2014) were a drought not only affects the water usages, but for people such as farmers a drought
meant no work for as long as the drought lasted, meaning they had big economic problems
(0:10). Another devastating effect of a drought is the increase on fires, the poem by Everson
(1980) gives the stories of a series of enormous fires caused by the dryness of the drought (145).
The National Library of Medicine (2012) did not stated an effect but informs that droughts not
only affect humans but they also affect animals, plants and the environment itself. These effects
can be temporally but if the drought is too long or to extreme, the effects may be permanent.
The Increase on Droughts
Global warming has make our weather more extrema, this has led to an increase on
droughts that can be observe. This is increase is extremely dangerous because now droughts are
even more devastating than before.

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Our Weather has become more extreme. The change in our weather is important because
Natural disasters haves become more dangerous. The PBS documentary by Steward (2012)
confirms this by stating that many factors prove that our weather has become more extreme. This
made natural disaster, including droughts, more powerful and more likely to happen (0:10). This
increase on droughts mention by Steward can be observe on the Drought Monitoring map (2015)
that shows that Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are all experiencing
Abnormally Dry, Moderate drought, and Severe Drought conditions. The east part of Texas, top
of Louisiana and center of Mississippi are experiencing extreme droughts. Louisiana is 100%
cover in drought conditions while the other four are around 75% (2015). The increase in
droughts is dangerous because droughts are now more devastating than ever, as shown on
Meinzers photo Between hell and Texas that shows how dangerous and devastating a drought
can be, with a metaphor. Vultures eat the death so they have been depicted as creatures that
predict the end of a life. That is why the death of the vulture has a deep meaning on the photo, it
means that the drought that occurred even kill the representation of the end of life itself (Figure
2).

Figure 2. This photo shows how dangerous drought are with a metaphor

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Source: Salamon, J., & Meinzer, W.Between hell and texas. Retrieve from
http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/between-hell-and-texas/

What if a Drought Happen?

Because droughts are random, it is impossible to predict them; However El Paso will not
be facing a drought soon, do to the water levels being normal, but we can expect one in the
future. This drought that will occur is extremely dangerous do to our dependency on water.
According to El Paso Water Utility Data (2013) there was a period of drought on 20062011 but recently we are on a great amount of water supply, meaning we will not face a drought
soon; However, As El Paso Times stated (2014) El Paso is at a risk of facing a drought later do to
the El Rio Grandes resent decrease do to population grow, historical dryness and increase on
temperatures. This drought we will face in the future is dangerous because as the Texas
Agricultural Water Conservation stated (2008) Texas second most profitable industry is
agriculture making it generates about $85 million a year. In agriculture a lot of water is require
there for a drought will greatly affect Texas economy theyre for affecting the whole nation (2).
What are we do in about it?

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Droughts cannot be stopped, they will eventually happen; however, many methods are
being implemented to decrease the droughts devastating power. This is important because
otherwise droughts could be really harmful.
We have experience devastating droughts and they will continue to occurred, therefore,
many implementations have been made on the governmental and local level. The U.S. Congress
(2014) stated that we could expect conditions that could be even worse than the one on the dusk
ball era. Because of this there is many research and implementations being done to minimalize
the damage of droughts. Smith (2013) agrees with that idea stating that droughts cannot be
prevented by an individual so the government must take action. Droughts have increased over
the years, meaning our drought detection and prevention methods have to evolve. A meeting was
held in order to discuss how to improve drought detection and prevention. The U.S. Federal
Energy Management (2002) adds to the conversation by concluding that water-saving
technologies are important not only to places with scare water, but also to places that have plenty
since the effects outshine the price (2). Mark Somma (1994) as an example of this
implementation explains that because of the decrease on underground water recourses in West
Texas, the West Texas underground conservation district was created. This group got organizes
and focus on promoting water conservation by giving rewards and bringing awareness to water
conservation and its good consequences. Neumann and Cardo (2012) gives another possible
future solution by finding gout that Plans have defense mechanisms against droughts call
Hydraulic. Hydraulic is when plants use their roots to transport water into the soil to keep it
healthy, we dont yet understand how this mechanism work at a cellular level (199). There have
also been local implementations, as the UTEPnews article by Whitehead (2014) shows that
Because of a UTEP student find out 25% of our water was being wasted because of a bad design

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pipeline. We are now are saving 49 millions of gallons a year, meaning that we have even more
water than before. Also El Paso times (2014) stated that the Rio Grande has suffered great harm
from the resent historical droughts, El Paso Time is looking for ways to cope with the scarcity.
80 percent of water use is used by agriculture so the focus is on them.
Conclusion
Putting sources into conversation and having research questions was important in the
creation of new knowledge on droughts. Many factors are responsible for creating a drought,
those factors need to occur at the same time in order to create a drought; Because of this droughts
are hard to predict. Droughts have devastating potential, affecting not only the people but the
ecosystem and economy for a long period of time or possibly permanently. The importance of
droughts has increase do to climate changes increase on the number and power of droughts. We
will not soon face a drought but when we do it will be a dangerous one. Because of this new
phenomenon of droughts becoming extremely dangerous, the government has been do in
research and implementing way of coping with this danger.

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References
Archer, D. (2007). Global warming: Understanding the forecast. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Pub. Retrieved from

Aroca, R. (2012). Plant responses to drought stress. Heidelberg: Springer. Retrieved from
http://0-

Drought Monitor. (9/3/15). U.S. drought monitor south. Retrieved

Everson, W. (1980). The masks of drought :Poems, 1972-1979. Santa Barbara, California:
Black Sparrow Press.

flyingmulefarm. (1/27/14). Drought story - flying mule farm. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEHpil6jyU0

German, E. R., Volusia County, & Geological Survey. (2009). The water cycle in volusia
county. Reston, Va.: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved
from http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS120535

Global weirding. Stewart, D. and Films Media Group (Directors). (2012).[Video/DVD] New
York: Films Media Group. Retrieved from http://0-digital.films.com.lib.utep.edu/
PortalPlaylists.aspx?xtid=52477&aid=12400

Kuramagan. (7/14/13). Vlog - stage 4 drought. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz3tdcWR9Io

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National Library of Medicine. (2012). Droughts and health. Bethesda, MD: Disaster
Information Management Research Center, National Library of Medicine, National
Institutes of Health. Retrieved from http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo26790

El Paso Water Utilities. (9/3/13). Past and Present Water Supplies. Retrieved from
http://www.epwu.org/water/water_resources.html

Salamon, J., & Meinzer, W.Between hell and texas. Retrieved from
http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/between-hell-and-texas/

Schladen, M. (2014, 12/14/14). Quenching our future, part 5: In drought, rio grande valley
irrigators feel the crunch. El Paso Times

Smith of Texas, from Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. (2/6/14). National
integrated drought information system reuthorization act of 2013. ( No. 113-348).
Washington: House of Representatives.

Somma, M. (1994). Local autonomy and groundwater district formation in high-plains west
Texas. Publius, 24(2), 53-62. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3330721

Tannehill, I. R. (1947). Drought,its causes and effects. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press.

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Texas Water Development Board. (2008). Agricultural water conservation best management
practices :Overview. Austin, Tex.: Texas Water Development Board.

Two texas towns struggle for water. Sreenivasan, H. and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions
(Directors). (2012).[Video/DVD] Arlington, VA: MacNeil-Lehrer Productions.
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xtid=58014&aid=12400

United States.Congress.Senate.Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

(2014). Drought, fire, and freeze :The economics of disasters for america's
agricultural producers : Hearing before the committee on agriculture, nutrition and
forestry, united states senate, one hundred thirteenth congress, first session,
february 14, 2013. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

United States, & Federal Energy Management Program. (2002). Domestic water
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http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/15002033-Oqjt0s/native /

Whitehead, N., Nadia. (1/23/14, ). Engineers help city save water. Utepnews

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Zaret, H., Singer, L. C., Glazer, T., Evans, D., Collins, D., & Marais & Miranda. (2012;
1961). Ballads for the age of science. New York, NY; 4: Harbinger Records. Retrieved
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cid=HCD-2801