Water Flashcards
Key factors in Australia 2019
Drought
•Due to extreme positive IOD
•Over-abstraction of the Great •Artesian Basin + mound springs dried up (groundwater rise to surface due to pressure)
•British colonists stopped indigenous practice of burning vegetation SO led to denser woodlands and higher flammability
Key factors in Brazil 2014
Drought
• Blocking high pressure system
•Over-abstraction - 2.5 million illegal boreholes
•Rapid population increase + higher water use per person
•Deforestation in the Amazon
•Water rationing for 4 million
• Hydroelectric power halted so blackouts
Key factors in north of England floods 2015
Flooding
*Storm Desmond brought 405mm of rain in 38 hours
*5200 homes flooded in Cumbria alone + 61000 lost power as a substation flooded
*Jet stream remained over the north of UK for too long so more rain
*Changing Land use - deforestation for farming so less interception, now soils are bare and drier so more run off
*Mismanagement of rivers - urbanisation as well as building on flood plains
Key factors in Colombo floods 2016
Flooding
*Intense heatwave caused deeper low pressure systems over the continent and led to a stronger monsoon season
*Tropical storm developed leading to high amounts of rainfall
*Flood risk exacerbated due to absence of a flood plain, lack of flood management on the River Kelani and steep valley slopes that accelerated surface run off
*Low lying land - water table close to the surface as well as being mostly marshland originally
* High population density
* high amount of area covered by impermeable surfaces as well as housing and industrial developments encroaching on marshland
Key factors of Pakistan 2022
Flooding
*Heat waves led to glaciers melting in the Himalayas so flash flooding a vast quantities of water reaching Pakistan
*Long term deforestation
*Failure by government to implement adaptive changes since the last major flood in 2010
Key factors of Libya 2023
Flooding
*‘Medicane’ (similar to a hurricane or cyclone) caused unusually intense and prolonged rainfall in the desert nation
*Two large dams collapsed causing large flooding downstream
Approx. 20,000 were killed or reported missing
Key factors of Drought Risk in the Amazon
Drought
*Large deforestation projects in the Amazon has led to Amazon ‘dieback’
*Can lead to a positive feedback mechanism as more trees die due to reducing moisture levels in the atmosphere as less evapotranspiration occurs so further dieback and even worse drought
*Experienced its worst drought on record in 2023
*Scientists afraid of it passing a point of no return
* El Nino events and climate change contributing factors too
Key Factors of Israel water management
- Increased water prices for farmers so they would use less - also used Drip irrigation and about 1/3 of irrigation water was originally wastewater
*Large desalination program - 80% of domestic water use is from these plants, also aim to produce 1.1 billion cubic metres of water annually by 2025
*However, desalination project pumps out large quantities of salt back into the oceans - hypersaline + has a high energy consumption - Used low flow toilets and showerheads
*Television campaigns showing Israel drying up + it becoming fashionable to save water e.g. quick showers - led to a decrease of 18% in water consumption
*Lowest water lost through leakage in the world
Key factors in Conflict over the Tigris-Euprates rivers
*Turkey have 22 dams and 19 hydropower plants reducing waterflows to Iraq at only 80% and Syria at 40%
*90% of water in the Euphrates starts in Turkey and 50% of Tigris starts in Turkey
*Lack of any international agreements
*Turkey accused Iraq of poor water management
*Internal conflicts in Iraq also have an effect - corrupt government led to failed infrastructure, control from ISIS led to weaponisation and contamination of water, invasion by us destroying infrastructure due to Iraq’s war with Kuwait
Key factors in Conflict over the Nile
*300 million people rely on the Nile
*Egypt and Sudan used to have a monopoly over the river’s resources as a result of colonial agreements
*The Entebbe Agreement allows other African countries (including Ethiopia) to receive a fairer share of the Nile’s water
*Egypt heavily relies on Nile for agriculture and water especially due to large population increase but the agreement makes it worse as they get even less.
*Egypt also unhappy as the agreement was signed without their approval so increases conflict
*Ethiopia has built the largest hydroelectric power station in Africa and one of the worlds largest dams leading to a further geo-political shift from Egypt to Ethiopia causing more conflict
*Egypt are concerned this will allow Ethiopia to gain control of the flow of the Nile
Key factors in the conflict in Spain
*Catalonia VS Spain
*Dams on the river Ebro in Catalonia has led to the delta being starved of sediment which was key to sustaining wetlands and stopping the encroachment of salt water
*Spain trying to set up a water transfer scheme where water is taken from the river Ebro to drier areas of Spain
Key factors in the Conflict over the Colorado River
*Colorado basin is part of 8 states
*Colorado Compact signed in 1922 when rainfall was 10% higher and the population was lower so distribution is now questioned
* Conflict between USA and Mexico as Mexico only receive 10% of the rivers flow
*Lower basin takes 50% whereas upper basin takes less - conflict
*Conflict with farmers - they take 80% of the water allocation and waste it on food irrigation and inappropriate choices of crop
*Conflict with city residents - urbanisation has increased demand - Arizona’s allocation is now used up for only two of its cities
*Conflict with indigenous groups who are owed more water than they receive
*Conflict with Mexico as they receive only the last 10% of the rivers flow causing the delta to shrink forcing fishermen elsewhere
Key factors of water management in China
Three Gorges Dam and Transfer Scheme
*In 2018, Beijing’s water supply did not fall between October to March despite a drought
*Boosted economic development
*Reduced abstraction of groundwater
*Cost £62 billion
*Displaced half a million people
*Pollution has increased in the Yangzi which has been worsened due to lower flow
*Risks taking too much water from the South
Key factors of sustainable water management in Singapore
*Whole of Singapore is a water harvesting catchment
*Subsidies protect poorest citizens from expensive water prices
*scaled water prices - price increases as usage increases past a certain amount
*NEWater - water recycling - accounts for up to 40% of water needs
*Uses desalination
*Leakages are prevented and fixed quickly
*Have national education schemes
Agreements aiming for successful water management
UNECE - aims to protect and insure quantity, quality and sustainable use of transboundary water resources - for UN countries
EU Water Framework Directive - sets targets to restore rivers, lakes , canals and coastal water to ‘good condition’ - includes basin wide assessments, protecting and improving water quality - ONLY for EU so not successful in managing elsewhere + little control over countries who leave the RU e.g. UK no longer have o follow these regulations
Berlin Rules 2004 - set of guidelines emphasising the importance of access to water, no weaponisation of water, minimisation of environmental impacts, sustainability
