Water Conflicts

Question 1

Physical Factors affecting California’s Water Supply.

Answer 1

Latitude, Relief Rainfall, Weather Systems, River Systems and Geology.

Question 2

Whats is California’s average annual rainfall?

Answer 2

500mm.

Question 3

What percentage of California’s rainfall is lost through evaporation?

Answer 3

63%.

Question 4

The Sierra Nevada Mountains cause what effect? How does this increase/decrease water supply?

Answer 4

Relief Rainfall, warm air rises from the Pacific and being forced to rise due to Sierra Nevada Mountains, causing Relief Rainfall. The other side of the mountain experiences a Rain Shadow (Mojave Desert) where only 100mm of rainfall falls annually.

Question 5

What type of rock is located in Central Valley? What does this mean?

Answer 5

Sedimentary rocks, therefore water can infiltrate. Central Valley Aquifer contains 2700 cubic kilometres of water.

Question 6

How much rainfall does India receive in July? And why?

Answer 6

70cm. The monsoon season, ITCZ moves North because of the Earth’s tilt. Creating a low pressure zone in India.

Question 7

Factors causing a mismatch between supply and demand?

Answer 7

Industrialisation, Physical Water Scarcity, Economic Water Scarcity, Shared Resources and Development.

Question 8

How much water was used by Coca-Cola in Kerala, India?

Answer 8

510,000 litres of water everyday. This left locals with water to use in farming.

Question 9

How much water is used in the Beijing-Tianjin Industrial area annually?

Answer 9

4.9 billion gallons.

Question 10

How much rainfall does Jordan receive annually?

Answer 10

200mm cubed per person.

Question 11

How many people were left without water, when the Bolivian government privatised it’s supply?

Answer 11

200,000. People couldn’t afford the high prices set by private companies.

Question 12

What percentage of the Colorado river is owned by Mexico?

Answer 12

10%. 90% is extracted before reaching Mexico.

Question 13

How many golf courses are located in California? How much water do they use?

Answer 13

883 golf courses, using 90 billion gallons of water per year.

Question 14

Human factors affecting California’s Water Availability?

Answer 14

Population growth, Economic Development, Over Abstraction, Mismanagement of Supplies and Shared Resources.

Question 15

How much did California’s population increase between 1900 and 2007?

Answer 15

2 million in 1900 to 37.7 million in 2007.

Question 16

What is California’s spatial imbalance?

Answer 16

75% of demand is located in the South, whereas 75% of supply is located in the North.

Question 17

What percentage of California’s water is extracted from groundwater?

Answer 17

60%.

Question 18

How has mismanagement of California’s water supplies affected water availability?

Answer 18

Along the Sacramento River, poorly built levees have lead to saltwater incursion.

Question 19

How many states share the Colorado River?

Answer 19

8 different states. As well as Mexico.

Question 20

What percentage of the Colorado River is California entitled to?

Answer 20

49%.

Question 21

How much has the Aral Sea declined in size since the 1960’s?

Answer 21

90%.

Question 22

Why did the Aral Sea decline in size?

Answer 22

The Soviet Union diverted two tributaries (Amu Darya and Syr Darya). Using them to grow cash crops.

Question 23

What happened to Cotton production under the Soviet Union?

Answer 23

Doubled.

Question 24

How large was the Fishing Industry around the Aral Sea?

Answer 24

40,000. Which collapsed due to over-extraction.

Question 25

What has happened to infant mortality rates around the Aral Sea?

Answer 25

30x higher than before.

Question 26

What has happened to bird species around the Aral Sea?

Answer 26

50% of bird species in the area have died.

Question 27

How many skilled workers around the Aral Sea emigrated?

Answer 27

Over 60,000.

Question 28

Why is access to water is often controlled by wealth?

Answer 28

Governments promoting TNC's, economic water scarcity, physical water scarcity, shared resources and unstable governments.

Question 29

How much do water vendors make in LIC's (located in Africa)?

Answer 29

£3.20 a day.

Question 30

Name one river located in Indonesia, why is it contaminated?

Answer 30

The Citarum, top 10 most polluted rivers in the world. Waste from over 2000 textile factories and 9 million people.

Question 31

How much damage has been done to water infrastructure during the civil war in the Central African Republic?

Answer 31

$3.5 million worth of damage.

Question 32

What environmental impacts are caused by extraction, development and use of water sources?

Answer 32

Aquifer supplies being depleted, salt water incursion and extinction of species.

Question 33

What social and economic impacts are caused by extraction, development and use of water sources?

Answer 33

Short term economic gain, collapse in industries, diseases and conflicts.

Question 34

How much has the Salinity of the Aral Sea increased by?

Answer 34

From 10g/L to 45g/L.

Question 35

What rate did the Aral Sea decrease by annually?

Answer 35

80cm.

Question 36

What animal was made extinct by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam?

Answer 36

Yangtzee River Dolphin.

Question 37

What conflict rose between Israel and Syria?

Answer 37

The Six Day War in 1967.

Question 38

How much industrial waste is dumped globally, every year?

Answer 38

400 billion tonnes.

Question 39

What is the average rainfall throughout the Murray Darling Basin?

Answer 39

480mm.

Question 40

How much has the water consumption of the Murray Darling Basin rose?

Answer 40

29% between 1996 and 2002.

Question 41

What are the main uses of the Murray Darling Basin's water?

Answer 41

Agriculture (89 million hectares of farmland), manufacturing, aquaculture etc.

Question 42

How much extra is being extracted each year from the Murray Darling Basin?

Answer 42

4%.

Question 43

Why is there a potential for conflict over water supplies?

Answer 43

Shared Resources, Development of sources, Physical Water Scarcity, Economic Water Scarcity, Stakeholders in dispute over its use, Political influence, Overarching rules (Helsinki).

Question 44

What percentage of the world's population is located in the Middle East, compared to it's water availability?

Answer 44

5% of the world's population, with 1% of the world's freshwater.

Question 45

How much rainfall does Iran receive compared to Jordan?

Answer 45

1200mm cubed person compared to 200mm cubed per person.

Question 46

What is Iraq's population set to grow by 2050?

Answer 46

114%.

Question 47

Why is conflict between Israel and Palestine likely?

Answer 47

Israel owns 80% of the mountain aquifers between both countries. As well as a long history between both countries.

Question 48

How much did Turkey's GAP scheme cost?

Answer 48

$32 billion.

Question 49

What is Turkey's GAP scheme?

Answer 49

Securing water supplies. With 22 dams, 19 HEP plants. Irrigating 1.7 million hectares of land.

Question 50

What knock on effects will the GAP scheme have for other countries?

Answer 50

Rivers that feed Israel and Syria (such as the Tigris River) are being dammed. Which supplies 25% of Syria's water.

Question 51

What impacts will the GAP scheme have to locals?

Answer 51

80,000 homes will be flooded.

Question 52

How many people live within the Nile Basin? And how many countries share the Basin?

Answer 52

300 million people. Shared by 11 different countries.

Question 53

How does the Nile's climatic location effect water quantity?

Answer 53

Over 50% of water is lost through evaporation throughout Southern Sudan.

Question 54

How vulnerable is Egypt to water shortages?

Answer 54

Vulnerable, 95% of it's water comes from the Nile.

Question 55

What is the predicted population increase in Egypt?

Answer 55

Expected to reach 140 million by 2050. It's population currently stands at 85 million.

Question 56

What agreement was signed about the River Nile in 1929?

Answer 56

The Nile Water Agreement. This gave Egypt 48 billion cubic metres of water, 4 billion to Sudan and all other nations got a 14% share.

Question 57

How much did the Three Gorges Dam cost?

Answer 57

$22.5 billion.

Question 58

How large was the reservoir created by the TGD?

Answer 58

650km.

Question 59

How many places were flooded by the construction of the TGD? And how many died as a result of flooding?

Answer 59

13 major cities, 140 villages, 8000 historical sights. 300,000 died from flooding.

Question 60

How much waste is dumped annually into the TGD reservoir?

Answer 60

1 billion tonnes of waste annually.

Question 61

Name 2 key facts about China's South to North Water Transfer scheme.

Answer 61

It cost $48 billion. | Doubles the Dankinkov Reservoir capacity to 29 billion cubic metres.

Question 62

Negative impacts of the South to North Water Transfer scheme?

Answer 62

Displaced 380,000 people. 5 months of drought followed in South China, leaving 315,000 without water.

Question 63

What percentage of water does Agriculture use globally?

Answer 63

70%.

Question 64

How many in countries in Africa will experience water scarcity in Africa by 2025?

Answer 64

25 countries.

Question 65

What players will determine future water security?

Answer 65

Governments, Over-arching global laws setup by IGO's, TNC's, current consumers and NGO's (Water Aid).

Question 66

How many pumps have Water Aid placed globally?

Answer 66

15,000.

Question 67

Name 7 different responses to increase water supply/security.

Answer 67

Dams, Transfers, Desalination, Intermediate Technology, Restoration of supplies, Conservation and Virtual Water Trading.

Question 68

Name the impacts of Desalination?

Answer 68

Short term technological fix. However, environmental toll, increases CO2 emissions and saltwater incursion.

Question 69

How much did the Carlsbad desalination plant cost?

Answer 69

$1 billion.

Question 70

How much water does the Carlsbad desalination plant provide?

Answer 70

7%.

Question 71

Name two intermediate technologies which relieve water stress.

Answer 71

Pumpkin Tanks and Tube Wells.

Question 72

How much do pumpkin tanks cost?

Answer 72

£77.

Question 73

Which NGO helps afford Pumpkin Tanks?

Answer 73

Practical Action.

Question 74

How many people now have access to clean water thanks to Tube Wells?

Answer 74

64,000.

Question 75

How much was Kazakhstan loaned to restore the Aral Sea?

Answer 75

$66 million from the World Bank.

Question 76

Name the largest Desalination plant in the world? Where is it located

Answer 76

Ras Al Khair. Located in Saudi Arabia.

Question 77

How many people does Ras Al Khair serve?

Answer 77

3.5 million residents in the city of Riyadh.

Question 78

How much did Ras Al Khair cost?

Answer 78

$7.2 billion.