Water 1.10 Flashcards by Katie Glass

Which players may face conflict in the management of water supplies?

Social vs political players
Economic (prefer hard engineering) vs environmental players (prefer sustainable approaches)

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Who are the players involved in water management projects?

Political players: International organisations and government departments (DEFRA)
Economic players - The World Bank and IMF fund mega projects as well as TNCs and transnational water companies
Social players - Residents, consumers and farmers who feel like access to water is a human right. Also includes NGOs, who develop sustainable schemes in LICs
Environmental players

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What are the different techo-fix, hard engineering projects?

Mega dams
Desalination projects
Water transfer schemes

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what are the two different type of water conservation projects which is determined by who manages the project?

projects can be top down: large projects which ensure efficiency, but can disregard locals/residents wishes
On the other hand, projects can be bottom up, involving local people, but can sometimes have scaling up difficulties

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What is water transfer?

Involves the diversion of water from one drainage basin to another, either by diverting the river itself or by constructing a large canal to carry water from an area of surplus to an area of deficit.

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What are some of the issues of water transfer projects in the source area?

experience a reduction in flow of up to 60%
Climate change can combine with low flows to lead to water scarcity
Greater issues with water pollution

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what are some of the issues of water transfer schemes in the receiving area?

availability of water simply means greater use e.g. use for golf courses and tourism
Promotes unsustainable irrigated farming
Eutrophication, salination and ecosystem destruction

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What is the South North Water Transfer project in China and why is it needed?

The Beijing region has 35% of the population, but only 7% of water.
Three routes will take water from the Yangatze to Northern China: Across the eastern middle and western parts of China respectively.
The cost is US $70 billion and is due for completion by 2050. Central government will pay for 60% while the rest will eventually be charged to domestic and industrial users

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What are the positives of China’s South-North transfer projects?

This will reduce the abstraction of groundwater and ensure there is reduced risk of water shortages in Beijing

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How much water could the China South-North Transfer project transport?

44.8 billion cubic meters of water per years

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What are the downsides of China’s south north transfer project?

345,000 people will have to relocate
It risks draining too much from Southern China
The Eastern route is industrial and risks further pollution
Some fear an ecological disaster

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What is the purpose of mega dams?

Impede, store, re-channel and redesign natural flows of water for the benefit of humans.

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What are the benefits of mega dams?

Many are multi purpose projects with multiple benefits including irrigation, HEP and flood control as well as domestic water supply

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What is the main negative of mega dams?

High evaporation losses

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What is the purpose of The Three Gorges Dam in China?

Designed to control flooding on the Yangatze, improve water supply by regulating river flow, generate HEP and make the river navigable. It also enables surpluses of water to build up and be diverted to northern China via the water transfer project

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What are the positives of the Three Gorges dam?

Electricity generated is vital for China’s growth

What are the negatives of the Three Gorges Dam project?

highly controversial and expensive
632 km squared of land has been flooded to form the reservoir, meaning 1.3 million have been relocated from 1500 villages
The reservoirs water quality is low and decomposing vegetation in reservoir produces methane, which is released when water passes through HEP turbines

What is desalination and how has it changed in popularity in recent years?

this is the process of removing salt from sea water so it can be used as a water supply. Its increased in popularity because it draws water from the ocean rather than the one percent of fresh water supplies available; it’s sustainable. Recent break through in technology has made it more cost effective and less energy intensive

What are the negatives of desalination?

Costly and has a major ecological impact on marine life. Dumping left over water on shorelines has adverse effects on coral webs and food webs because it has twice the concentration of salt

What is Israel’s desalination project and what does it include?

Five plants were opened by 2013, taking water directly from the Mediterranean Sea.
It aims to provide 70% of Israel’s domestic water supply by 2020.
It produces a reliable and predictable supply of water, creating up to 600 tonnes of potable water per hour

What are the negatives of Israel’s desalination projects?

-Each plant requires its own power station, adding to CO2 emissions (although much of the energy used is solar)
-Produces vast amounts of salt

What are some of the sustainable management methods that could be used?

Water conservation and restoration e.g. Smart irrigation and recycling of water

How can water use be made more efficient in agriculture via water conservation?

-‘more crop per drop’ - sprinkler and irrigation systems are generally being replaced with modern automated spray technology.
-Recycling of city waste water for agriculture as this Grey water does not need to be of drinking quality.
-Magic stones - lines of 5-10cm high stones along contours of hill to prevent soil erosion and moisture loss.
-Rainwater harvesting - put farmers in control of how much they need, cutting consumption by 30% in Uzbekistan
-training farmers to minimize tilling so that water is conserved in a layer of mulch
-choosing to grow crops that need less water

What high technology has played a part in water conservation?

Genetically modified crops that are tolerant of diseases and salty conditions
Hydroponics involves growing crops in huge greenhouses that are controlled by co2 and temperature. The crops are grown in shallow trays where they are drip fed water and nutrients (there’s no soil)
Filtration technology means water can be purified and recycled

How is changing attitudes of TNCs helping water conservation?

TNCs are trying to use less water or increasingly are purifying and using Grey water

What are some of the things consumers could do to reduce water usage and conserve water?

- install smart meters -rain harvesting in the garden to water plants -sharing a bath -putting a brick in the toilet cistern -using an eco-kettle -often enforced via hosepipe bans

How has Singapore made their energy use more efficient via conservation?

They have used a number of holistic management strategies (the main of which is water recycling). These include: - They use recycling of rain water by using artificial rain catchments (the whole of Singapore is a water harvesting catchment), combined with treatment of sewage water. -Consumption has fallen through metering the water supply and educating the public -leakages cut to 5% -water prices are scaled - the price rises if water usage goes above a certain level -subsidies protect the poorest citizens from expensive water

How is Israel sustainably managing water supplies?

-use of smart irrigation: drip systems reduce wastage and evaporation -recycling sewage water for agricultural use -reducing agricultural consumption

What is water restoration?

Restoration of damaged rivers, lakes and wetlands to their natural state - at a local scale, it can involve restoring meanders or replanting vegetation to manage the water course - at a large scale it can be restoring entire lakes or rivers

What are some examples of water restoration projects?

Partial restoration of the marsh area in South Iraq, deliberately drained by Saddam Hussein -The largest project is the restoration of the northern part of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan

What Is IWRM?

Integrated Water Resource Management: promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water to maximise economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems. This means the river is treated holistically to ensure maximum efficiency of use, equitable distribution and protection of environmental quality

What are the features of IWRM?

- environmental protection of all supplies and ecosystems - water security for the poor - effective dialogues between users and providers - good governance, often decentralised - appropriate choices on water use in economic productivity - effective regulation and planning of use

What are examples of successful local IWRM schemes?

That in Gujarat, India

Discuss some context information on the Colorado River?

-Drains 7% of the US - It provides water to seven US states and Mexico - It irrigates 1.4 million hectares of farmland and provides drinking water for 50 million Americans -Demand and climate change have depleted storage to 48% -It has been in persistent drought since 2000 and since the 1990s has reduced flow by 15%

What agreement was reached in Colorado in 1922 and why is it outdated?

The Colorado Compact originally made in 1922, was made when the population was lower and average rainfall was about 10% higher meaning it's now out of date

Why is there conflict between groups in the Colorado Basin?

-Mexico takes 10% of total flow -The states in the Lower basin take 50% and the Upper Basin falls short by 10% - California takes 20% more than its allocation -Native Americans are owed 5%, but could claim more

What are some of the new climate agreements that have been reached in Colorado? What strategy should be considered?

- 2007: Instead of sharing the water, the states now divide up shortages. California has reduced it the amount it extracts by 20% - 2012: Minute 139 between US and Mexico: Gives Mexico the right to store some of its water in Lake Mead An IWRM scheme on a large scale should be considered in future

What are the Berlin Rules?

Outline international law relating to freshwater resources, replacing the earlier Helsinki rules. There are nine water management principles that apply to all countries, including: - equitable utilisation of shared water resources - minimisation of environmental harm -integrated management -avoidance of transboundary harm

Who are UNECE?

The UN's economic commission for Europe's water convention aims to protect the quality, quantity and sustainable use of trans-boundary water resources in Europe. It's adopted the IWRM at basin scale and has been followed by various Water Framework Directives from the EU