EQ3

Question 1

What are the 3 futures of water management?

Answer 1

Business as usual
Water Crisis
Sustainable Water

Question 2

What will business as usual result in?

Answer 2

By 2025 food production decrease, water consumption increase by over 50%, household water use increase by 70%, industrial water demand increase
Developing reliant on water imports
Sub-Saharan grain imports will triple
Water pumped faster than we can recharge aquifers in Egypt, N Africa, West USA, China and India

Question 3

What will a water crisis result in?

Answer 3

By 2025 global consumption will increase due to migration
Domestic demands decrease
Industrial demands increase
Food production decrease, food prices increase, food insecurity in developing, decline in dam building, failure of aquifers, increasing conflict

Question 4

What will sustainable water result in?

Answer 4

By 2025 global consumption will decrease
Industrial water will decrease
Increased environ. flows
Increased global raid fed crop yields as water harvesting improvements and sustainable farming
Agricultural and household prices double in developed & triple in developing
Food production increases, prices decrease, invest in crop research tech., water management reforms, end of unsustainable groundwater pumping, gov. delegate farm management to community groups

Question 5

Why does CC exacerbate the problem?

Answer 5

Increased temps -> easier snowmelt in mountains -> increase in spring discharge in major river basins -> cannot store effectively so lost to oceans or evaporated -> loss of primary water source

Extreme weather events -> cyclones and monsoons threaten supplies intermittently
Extreme weather events -> increased freq. and intensity of droughts -> dried up rivers -> irrigation failure -> depleted aquifers

Question 6

What political water players are there?

Answer 6

UN
Gov. departments (DEFRA)
Regional & local councils
Lobbyists
pressure groups

Question 7

What economic water players are there?

Answer 7

World Bank
Gov.
Developers
Utility Companies (Thames Water)
Agriculture
Industry
TNCs & businesses

Question 8

What social water players are there?

Answer 8

Individuals
Residents
Indigenous
Landowners
Farmers
Consumers
Health officials
Scientists
NGOs (Water Aid)

Question 9

What environmental water players are there?

Answer 9

Conservationists
Scientists
Planners
International Organisations (FAO)
NGOs

Question 10

What are the 3 possible responses?

Answer 10

Hard engineering
Restoration of rivers, lakes, wetlands
Water conservation (reducing amount used rather than increasing supply)

Question 11

What will hard engineering involve?

Answer 11

Dam construction (for irrigation, HEP, flood control, domestic water)

• will be limited by high costs for developing
• Disrupt floodplain agriculture, fisheries and forestry
• locals will be starved of welfare investment and livelihoods disrupted (resettled)

Question 12

What will restoration involve?

Answer 12

• restore meanders
• Replant veg.
• Sustainable methods managing watercourses

Question 13

What will conservation involve?

Answer 13

efficient irrigation
treat/recycle in industry
conserve wetlands to develop eco-hydrological view
Increase prices
water metres
fertigation
'drip' irrigation or modern spray tech.

Question 14

How can water tech. help?

Answer 14

Can increase supply and access
Civil engineering skills & construction tech. used for water transfer
desalination
Diversion, transfer, storage, conservation & restoration also uses tech.

Question 15

What does desalination involve?

Answer 15

• freshwater for human consumption & irrigation
• osmosis membrane tech.
• v. expensive so for developed
• high quality water produced but chemically different than rainwater
• brine is by-product having ecological effects