Water Source Essay, Research Paper

Flagstaff has more then just one or even two sources of water. This city has five sources of water to draw from. Even though some of these sources are not used to there full potential. Upper Lake Mary and the Lake Mary aquifer are one of the more widely known of the five. Lake Mary and its aquifer are replenished by snowmelt mostly. The inner basin aquifer, in the mountains, is another source that is also mostly snowmelt. The Rio de Flag is used in two ways for water. The river has a couple of wells on it, but it is mostly used to put reclaimed water into it. Another one is in the Woody Mountains, where there are a few wells that draw water out. The last one is the, mentioned earlier, is the water treatment plant that reclaims water and puts it back into the Rio de Flag. All of these sources provide the Flagstaff and Northern Arizona University community with water.

With all of these water sources for this relatively small city, one would think that Flagstaff and its inhabitants would have a sustainable source of water, but is any source of water sustainable? I do not think that every source of water is sustainable without conservation. If a community uses its water sources without any care of the water supplies, then the sources will eventually deplete and the city will be without water. If a city learns to conserve water, then a water source will be sustain itself, even though it might deplete a little bit over hundreds of years. I think if the citizens of Flagstaff and the NAU community take their parts in conserving water then the water sources of this area will continue to be sustainable.

Sustainability is the concern of every community on the planet. Everyone needs water to sustain a community, and living in the southwest makes it even harder for a community to survive. Water is also needed more, because of the climate that the southwest has. Which makes the water sources the cities have even that much more valuable. Making this knowledge know all over the southwest will help all of the water sources more sustainable to each community. For Flagstaff, NAU, and all over Arizona, water conservation is a must. There are many things that this community can do to conserve water. NAU, itself, could do many of things such as installing low-flow showerheads and smaller gallon toilets in all of the dorms. Automatic sinks also conserve water by turning off the sink automatically when no one is using it. NAU could also water the grass at night and when it is not raining, which would also help in saving water. The people of Flagstaff and NAU could also help in conserving to water sources of this region by doing the things listed above, at their homes. NAU is not the only one that uses the water in this city. The permanent citizens of Flagstaff have to participate in the conservation of water, too. If the Flagstaff community has no care for the conservation of their water sources then all of what NAU does to conserve water will be counterproductive in its efforts. So, it is not only NAU’s job to help take measures to ensure a sustainable water sources, the whole community of Flagstaff have to take part in this war to have water that will last through the years.