EQ3: How does water insecurity occur and why is it becoming such a global issue for the 21st century?

Question 1

Key statistics about water problems:

Answer 1

-Only 1% of water on earth is freshwater
-1 in 6 have no access to toilets
-Every 20 seconds a child dies due to water illness
-50% of people lack basic sanitation
-1 in 8 have to search for water

Question 2

What is water stress?

Answer 2

The annual supply of water per person falls below 1700m cubed

Question 3

What is water scarcity?

Answer 3

The annual supply of water per person falls below 1000m cubed

Question 4

What is physical scarcity?

Answer 4

When more than 75% of a country’s or region’s blue water flows are being used

Question 5

What is economic scarcity?

Answer 5

When the development of the blue water sources is limited by a lack of capital, technology and good governance

Question 6

What is virtual water?

Answer 6

The hidden flow of water when food or other commodities are traded

Question 7

How does industrial water pollution cause water insecurity?

Answer 7

Human cause
-Involves dumping industrial waste into rivers
-In China 330 million people use contaminated water everyday
-75% of lakes in China are polluted
-Cause water borne diseases e.g. cholera, typhoid
-Estimated that 135 million would’ve died of these diseases by 2020

Question 8

How does saltwater encroachment at the coast cause water insecurity?

Answer 8

Human or physical cause
-Movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers due to sea level rise, storm surges or human extraction
-Limits crop production as it depends on freshwater irrigation
-An increasing problem in small, low lying Pacific islands

Question 9

How does over abstraction of rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers cause water insecurity?

Answer 9

Human cause
-Increasing demand due to increased population growth, migration and urbanisation
-Upsets the natural balance of saline and freshwater
-Agriculture uses 70% of absorption globally
-Humans over extract from rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes

Question 10

How does water contamination from agriculture cause water insecurity?

Answer 10

Human cause
-Water availability is affected by pollution and contamination
-Increase in eutrophication from fertilisers
-Can cause environmental and health risks which can lead to hypoxia and dead zones in water

Question 11

How does climate variability cause water insecurity?

Answer 11

Physical
-Global variations in the distribution of freshwater sources due to variations in climate change
-Leading to less effective precipitation
-Increase in warm water waste which can encourage bacteria growth
-Can affect water quality

Question 12

What is the water poverty index?

Answer 12

An assessment of the degree of water shortage and subsequent water insecurity problems

Question 13

What factors affect the price of water?

Answer 13

-Costs of obtaining the supply
-Investment and infrastructure
-Demand
-Government policies
-Privatisation
-Lack of piped water supply

Question 14

Case study of the Aral Sea (using water to economically develop) :

Answer 14

Location:
-Northern part is in Kazakhstan
-Southern part is in Uzbekistan
-Occupied by large mountain ranges which merge into the himalayas
-Was part of the soviet union

Causes Of The Problem:
-1930s canals were built to take water from the two rivers in order to develop rice and cotton
-1960s even more canals were built
-70% of irrigation water either leaked or evaporated so less water reached the sea causing shrinkage

Question 15

Impacts of the Aral Sea:

Answer 15

Social:
-Unemployment
-Respiratory diseases from the dust storms
-Infant and maternal mortality rates increased

Economic:
-Collapse of the fishing industry
-Shop and services closed

Environmental:
-Water became polluted and saline so fish couldn’t survive
-Change to the climate when the lake dried out
-Animals couldn’t find food so they had to migrate

Question 16

Facts about the Gigel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia:

Answer 16

-243m high
-610m wide
-14.7 billion cubic metres
-6,500 GWH a year of electricity made
-$1.83 billion to build
-Built in 2015
-200,000 number of people relying on the Omo rivers below the dam for agriculture

Question 17

Arguments in favour for the Gigel Gibe dam?

Answer 17

-Need for new power due to GDP and population growth
-Provide electricity to cities and towns
-Create jobs in construction
-Allow exports of electricity to develop economically
-Relegate flooding downstream

Question 18

Arguments against the Gigel Gibe dam?

Answer 18

-Conflict for resources
-Increased poverty
-$1.8 billion to build
-Government broke the rules as they didn’t publish the environmental damage statistics until two years after construction began
-Possible corruption as only one construction company was involved and there was no competition
-Will affect 500,000 downstream

Question 19

What was the cause of conflict between Russia and Crimea?

Answer 19

-Putin sent thousands of soldiers into Crimea because he needed to protect Russian people in Crimea
-Group of armed men took over the government buildings and raised Russian flag
-Held marches in the streets which Ukraine’s government saw as a threat

Question 20

What are the potential impacts of the Russia and Crimea conflict?

Answer 20

-Water shortage is threatening 120,000 hectares of Crimea crops
-Current water sources are only meeting 15% of demand
-Ecological catastrophe, destruction of agriculture, salination of land
-Ruined harvest season of 5 billion roubles

Question 21

What are the advantages of new water and desalination in Singapore?

Answer 21

-High grade recycled water
-Ultra clean and safe to drink
-Meets up to 30% of the nations needs
-Sustainable
-Saves money on imports
-Desalination is becoming cheaper every year

Question 22

What are the disadvantages of new water and desalination in Singapore?

Answer 22

-Expensive technology
-Time consuming to produce
-Desalination requires large amounts of energy
-Locked in an agreement with Malaysia meaning they are reliant on them but Malaysia could remove the water or increase the price at any time

Question 23

What are the advantages of smart irrigation in China and Australia?

Answer 23

-Conserves water without a significant reduction in yield
-Saves 25% of water
-Increased water productivity by 60% in Australia
-Prevents evaporation losses
-Increases fruit quality

Question 24

What are the disadvantages of smart irrigation in China and Australia?

Answer 24

-Expensive
-Creates mild stress
-Requires a precise amount of water
-Not suitable for every crop

Question 25

What are the advantages of harvesting rainwater in Uganda?

Answer 25

-Cheap
-Long life
-Saves energy
-Reduces collection time
-Helps poorer people get access to clean water

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of harvesting rainwater in Uganda?

Answer 26

-Can be contaminated
-Algae growth
-Breeding ground for lots of diseases
-Invasion of insects, lizards, rodents

Question 27

What is hard engineering?

Answer 27

Using man made artificial structures to manage flooding or water supply

Question 28

What is sustainable water management?

Answer 28

Schemes that balance economic, social and environmental needs by meeting with communities to create soft management strategies

Question 29

What is desalination?

Answer 29

The process of converting saltwater to freshwater for human consumption and industrial processes

Question 30

What are the benefits and negatives of desalination?

Answer 30

Benefits:
-Cost effective
-Easy to implement on a large scale
-Less energy intensive
-Price is decreasing every year

Negatives:
-Ecological impacts on marine life
-Expensive for developing countries
-Not efficient
-Requires fossil fuels in some countries which produces lots of emissions
-Not accessible to land locked countries

Question 31

What is the South North water project?

Answer 31

Divert water from the wetter south of China to the north which lacks water

Question 32

What are the benefits and negatives of the south north water project?

Answer 32

Benefits:
-Transfer 448 billion cubic metres of water per year
-Plan to improve water conservation and irrigation

Negatives:
-Ecological and environmental issues
-Decrease in water quality
-Expensive ($100 billion)
-Some choose to still extract groundwater
-Many displaced people

Question 33

Case study of the River Quaggy:

Answer 33

-Located in south east England, runs through Lewisham and Greenwich
-Artificial channels and culverts have been put in place in the 1960s to reduce flooding due to the increase in urban development
-New sustainable management plans to transfer water to green space to create wetlands where water can collect naturally in Sutcliffe Park
-Aims to have a storage capacity of 35 olympic swimming pools which will reduce the flood risk for 600 homes while creating an environment for wildlife

Question 34

What is a soft management strategy?

Answer 34

Using natural solutions by working with the rivers natural processes

Question 35

What is the problem with the management strategy of the River Quaggy?

Answer 35

Cannot happen in all urban areas as it requires large amounts of space

Question 36

IRBM Case Study: Colorado integrated river management

Answer 36

-97% of the basin is in the USA, 3% in Mexico
-Prone to drought conditions due to climate change
-Issues include: urbanisation, population growth and agricultural needs for irrigation water
-1956 agreement created a development plan to cover river regulation, creating 29 dams and numerous diversion projects
-Drier conditions and falling reservoir levels creating not enough water to meet demands
-New agreement in 2007 where the water availability determines the supplies to each US state
-An agreement in 2012 called Minute 139 signed by Mexico and USA which gives Mexico the right to store some of the rivers water and in return water providers can purchase water which will improve Mexico’s canals and storage infrastructure