Management of Crisis for Land and River

Question: Discuss about the management of crisis for land and river? Answer: Encounters with the Archdruid' is a book that deals with environmental crisis. There are three different sections- A Mountain, An Island and A River. This paper summarizes and provides idea of the first and third section. The first section is on a mountain range, the Glacier Peak in the Cascades located in Central Washington. The issue encountered in the range is mining and its impacts. The section is an argument or debate between the damages done by mining vs. Benefits of mining. It is argued that mining is necessary as it helps the economy going well. Charles Park, the mineral engineer, argues that metals are finite and must be taken wherever they are located. According to him, metals are required for development and progress of the economy. However, David Brower, the militant conversationalist, thinks mining is a bad idea and that it ruins the land and country. He argues that wilderness would die if the environmental group loses the battle if they temporarily have a victory (McPhee, 1977). Mining causes serious environmental damage, not only to the land but also to the country. Various approaches can be followed to reduce mining. The people must reduce the consumption of minerals so that mining processes can be reduced. The minerals must be substituted with renewable products such as plastic can be used instead of metals, biomass instead of uranium for producing energy. There is also a requirement for better legislation and regulations. High penalties must be introduced for violating the rules (Izatt, Izatt, Bruening, Izatt Moyer, 2014). The third chapter is about the Colorado River and Floyd Dominy, a devoted dam builder. Brower argues to stop construction of dams in the Colorado River as he thinks that it is not worth. Dams are being built for securing the benefits of human use. Living and growing up in a dry area, Brower knows the importance of water and that dams are damaging the environment and flooding areas. The dams are asking the river to do more than it can at the Colorado River. He further argues that dams require ongoing maintenance that leads to other impacts such as water quality standards and loss of lives under water (McPhee, 1977). The first step in fighting a new dam construction is to reduce the consumption of water. Once the demand is nailed down, increasing water efficiency and conservation are cost-effective ways to greater dam constructions. The people must be taught reuse, groundwater recharge and renovating dams in a less harmful way are other alternatives (Figueres, Rockstrom Tortajada, 2012). Education can be provided to people with rainwater harvesting and water-saving practices so that there is the lesser demand for water, creating less supply. These practices would help in eliminating the impact of dams on the natural environment. The communities can also contribute to infrastructural costs by investing a fraction in water conservation and efficiency (Moore, 2013). The above practices can help in the management of crisis for land and river. The stories shared by McPhee have helped in developing an argument as they are never ending. References Figueres, C., Rockstrom, J., Tortajada, C. (2012).Rethinking Water Management. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Izatt, R., Izatt, S., Bruening, R., Izatt, N., Moyer, B. (2014). Challenges to achievement of metal sustainability in our high-tech society.Chemical Society Reviews,43(8), 2451. https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c3cs60440c McPhee, J. (1977).Encounters with the archdruid. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Moore, J. (2013).Balancing the needs of water use. New York: Springer-Verlag.