Water EQ3 Flashcards
1
Q
What does it mean if somewhere is vulnerable to water insecurity
A
Less than 2500m3 per capita of available water
2
Q
What is water stress
A
When there is less than 1700m3 per capita of available water
3
Q
What is water scarcity
A
Less than 1000m3 per capita of available water
4
Q
What is physical water scarcity
A
Lack of supply
5
Q
What is economic water scarcity
A
Lack of access
6
Q
What is water insecurity determined by
A
Availability of water - supply and distribution
Access- freedom to use, income to buy
Usage - entitlement and understanding of water use and health issues
7
Q
What are the pros of privatisation of water
A
- water quality generally high
- can make supply meet demand
- can afford to build new infrastructure
8
Q
What are the cons of privatisation of water supply
A
- becomes more expensive to make profits
- unaffordable with fluctuating prices
- company control o er supply so not everyone will get even supply
9
Q
What happened in 1999 Bolivia with privatisation
A
- aqua del tunari bought control of water supply
- prices increased immediately to match 20% of a typical urban poor persons income
- 4 days of protests
- contract cancelled
10
Q
How do water charges vary across high income countries
A
- Canada Water still in public sector - charges 80% less than Germany
- Ireland only began charging In 2012. 2016 water bills 75% less than Uk
- Denmark decreasing consumption through high pricing - most expensive in the world
11
Q
How are water demands predicted to change by 2030
A
55% increase
40% shortfall in supply
12
Q
Why is global water demand increasing
A
Industrialisation and globalisation :
Energy generation - 75% UK water used in energy generation
Food production - will require 140% more water in 2050 due to needing to produce 60% more food
13
Q
Why is the Aral sea shrinking ?
A
Late 1950s- soviet government diverted water from rivers which fed the Aral sea for agriculture
Cotton production
14
Q
Water was diverted from the rivers which fed the Aral Sea. What were the rivers called?
A
Amu Darya
Syr Darya
15
Q
How many people were part of the fishing community of Aral Sea
A
60000
16
Q
What % of original size was Aral Sea in 2007
A
10%
17
Q
Consequence of Aral Sea drying up
A
- pollution of water supplies
- only half mammal and bird species remain
- temperature extremes are more severe
- water salinised
- food insecurity could cause 10 million migrants
18
Q
How many people lacked access to safe drinking water in 2016
A
800million
19
Q
What does world health org say about water quality and economic gain
A
Every $1 invested in improving water = $7 or economic gain
20
Q
What does the water poverty index measure
A
Monitors progress towards STGs
Measures:
- Resources
- access
- capacity
- use
- environment
21
Q
A
22
Q
What is the water poverty index
A
A measure or the degree of water shortage and subsequent insecurity problems
23
Q
Who has the highest and lowest water poverty index score
A
Canada - 78
Ethiopia - 48
24
Q
What % of accessible freshwater is being used?
A
60%
25
26
What is salt water encroachment
The process by which salt water contaminates freshwater groundwater by the coast
Occurs naturally but sped up by human activities and climate change
27
What are natural causes of saltwater encroachment
Salt water is denser than freshwater so can push inland and form a saline wedge below freshwater
This boundary moves inward in dry months and seaward in wetter month s
28
Which factors add pressure to water supplies
- population growth
- improving living standards
- industrialisation
- agriculture
29
What are human causes of saltwater encroachment
- groundwater pumping from coastal wells reduces level of fresh groundwater p, allowing saltwater to flow further inland
- navigation channels provide a conduit for saltwater to move inwards
30
How does climate change cause saltwater encroachment
Global warming causes sea level rise
Increased extreme weather events such as hurricanes worsen saltwater intrusion
31
What scenario leads to water conflict
- demand for water overtakes available supply and a number of stakeholders use the same diminished resource
- competing demands can lead to conflict within and between countries
32
How many international ‘events’ were there 1948-2008, and how many led to actual conflict.
How many were over water ?
2000 events
25% led to conflict
2/3 conflicts over water
33
How does Israel use water to control Palestine
Palestinians water dependent on Israel after Israel occupied West Bank in 60s
Israel has veto power in joint water committee- vetoes Palestinian water infrastructure development
34
Examples of water conflict within a country
Kielder transfer scheme in Northumberland causes convert over flooding of farming valley and villages
Arizona and California conflict over Colorado
Murray darling basin
35
How much land in Australia is covered by Murray darling basin
1million km2 of southeast Australia
36
How has water extraction changed since 1920 in Murray darling basin
Increased by 5 times
37
Who are the stakeholders in the Murray darling basin
Farmers
Industry
Urban drinking water use
Environmental conservation groups
Indigenous water rights
Local government
38
When did the basin plan come into effect in the Murray darling basin
2012
39
Why are farmers not happy with the Murray darling basin plan
Feel as though they don’t have enough water to irrigate crops
‘Food producers in the Murray valley remain on zero allocation’
40
What was the goal of the Murray darling basin plan
Balance access to water between communities in the basin while keeping a provision of adequate water for the environment
Limited impact on natural environment and functions of the rivers, groundwater and wetlands of the basin
41
What did the Murray darling basin plan do
Determine amount of water which can be extracted ted for consumption by users (urban, industrial and agricultural) and by state and federal governments
42
Wheat percentage of the total river Nile flow were awarded to Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia in the 1959 treaty?
Egypt- 66%
Sudan - 22%
Ethiopia - 0%
12% lost to evaporation
43
Nile treaties timeline - 1959
Egypt and Sudan given lions share, Egypt given veto power over dams in upstream countries
Ethiopia not consulted despite blue Nile tributaries contributing most of the water
44
Nile treaties timeline - 2010
Egypt and Sudan reject deal proposed by upstream countries
Deal proposed more water for upstream countries, strips Egypt of veto power
45
Nile treaties timeline - 2011
Ethiopia starts work on Grand Renaissance dam
Biggest dam in Africa
46
Nile treaties timeline - 2015
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia sign deal on Ethiopian project to share water and not hurt each others interests
47
Egypt population, GDP and main Nile plans
Population - 74 million
GDP- 75 billion
Plans - building new hydropower barrage, new irrigation scheme planned
48
Sudan population, GDP and main Nile plans
Population - 36 million
GDP- 19 billion
Plans -building new dams, plans to restart jonglei canal
49
Ethiopia population, GDP and main Nile plans
Population - 77 million
GDP- 9.8 billion
Plans - 33 new irrigation and HEP plants planned
50
Tanzania population, GDP and main Nile plans
Population - 52 million
GDP - 48 billion
Plans - new pipeline built from lake Victoria to provide drinking water
51
Examples of political players in water resource issues
International organisations
Regional and local churches
Pressure groups fighting against projects (megadams)
52
Examples of economic players in water resource issues
World bank and IMF who fund mega projects
Developers of mega schemes
Transnational water companies
TNCS and businesses who are large users of water - agriculture, industry, energy
53
Examples of social players in water resource issues
Individuals
Residents
Consumers
Land and farmers
Health officials
54
Examples of environmental players in water resource issues
Conservationists fighting hard engineering schemes
Scientists and planners developing new schemes
NGOs such as WWF
55
What are top down projects
Large scale projects which ensure efficient delivery often disregarding local people’s wishes
56
What are bottom up projects
Localised projects which involve local people with management
Difficult to scale up
57
What is involved in water management through hard engineering
Hard engineering is a technological fix
Top down
High levels of tech and capital required
Economic cost many billions
Often involves Social and environmental costs
58
Examples of hard engineering projects in water management
Damming
Water transfer projects
Desalination projects
59
What is water security? What are the 4 parts?
When water is available, accessible and affordable for all through
- Futurity
- environmental protection
- equity and social justice
- public participation
60
What is economic water sustainability
Guaranteeing secure access to water at an affordable price
61
How many people lack access to safe water
25%
62
Examples of water conservation
- improving irrigation efficiency / repairing leaks
- recycling grey water
- drought intolerant GM crops
- hydroponics
- reducing domestic use
63
Examples of water restoration
Restoring damaged water stores
Replanting vegetation
EU funded project to Restore northern part of Aral Sea
64
How does drip irrigation work
Water and nutrients delivered across fields in pipes called drip lines
Deliver uniform drops of water and fertiliser
Most efficient water and nutrient delivery in agriculture
65
How does Israel manage water
- smart irrigation (drip systems )
- recycling sewage for agricultural use
-
66
Issues with water transfer in the source area
- drop in flow of up to 60% as a result of diversion / transfer
- river experiences low flow and becomes polluted or increasing salinity
- Climate change combines with a lower flow, leads to water scarcity
67
Issues with water transfer schemes in receiving area
- availability leads to higher consumption
- promotes unsustainable, irrigated farming
- brings pollution with it, including nitrates which cause eutrophication
68
When did the china north south transfer project begin and when will it be complete ?
Began 2003, takes 50 years to complete
69
Cost of china north to south transfer project - where does the money come from?
$100Bn
60% from central government, rest from local authorities who pass cost to users
70
How much water will the north south transfer project transfer
44.8 billion cubic metres per year via 1300km of canals
71
why is there a supply and demand issue in Beijing.
35% of chinas population
40% Chinese arable land
Only 7% of the water
72
Risks of transfer project in china
Worsening water quality - Yangtze River extremely polluted already and yellow river undrinkable
Likelihood of significant ecological and environmental impacts
Resettlement issues
73
What % of the worlds major rivers are impeded by megadams
60%
74
How much global runoff is stored in how many megadams ?
5000 megadams store 15% global runoff
75
When did the 3 gorges dam open
2012
76
What were the aims of the three gorges dam
Control flooding of the Yangtze
Improve water supply by regulating water flow
Generate HeP
Make river navigable to increase shipping
77
How big is the three gorges reservoir
40 cubic km
78
How much HEP is generated at the three gorges dam?
98 TeraWatt- hours
Record until 2016
79
What is desalination
Turns seawater into available freshwater
14000 in the world
80
Pros of desalination plants
Sustainable as conserves water supplies for future generations
More viable than major hard engineering feats such as megadams or transfer schemes
Made cost effective due to new technology
81
Cons of desalination
Expensive
Left over water has twice salt content of sea water - known as brine
When brine dumped into ocean, has adverse consequences on coral reefs and their food webs
82
How many desalination plants opened in Israel 2013
5
83
How much of Israel’s domestic water supply is from desalination
85% in 2022
84
Environmental pros of china south to north transfer scheme
Could stop over abstraction of groundwater in Beijing region
Could stop subsidence in this area
85
social Cons of china south to north transfer scheme
Displaces 300000 million
15000 prisoners sued as forced labour on the project
Taxes raised to fund project
86
Environmental cons of china south to north transfer scheme
Risk of pollution from factories along eastern route
Increases water insecurity in the south
87
Economic cons of china south to north transfer scheme
Budget multiplied by 13 (7Bn-10.Bn)
Costs Shanghai’s shipping industry 2Bn per year due to decreased river flow
88
Economic pros of the three gorges dam
Paid for itself in 3 tears
Employed 26000 during construction
Generates HEP
89
Environmental pros of the three gorges dam
Prevents major downstream flooding
Produces clean energy
90
Economic cons of the three gorges dam
High maintenance costs
Pumps had to be built to clear silt buildup
91
Environmental cons of the three gorges dam
Water pollution from increased erosion
Caused tectonic activity - over 3000 quakes - during construction
Flooded a lot of land , decomposing vegetation
Extinction of river dolphin
92
Economic pros of the desalination in Israel
Managed to create more energy efficient and cost effective plant
93
Economic cons of the desalination in Israel
Expansive to run as has a high energy output
94
Environmental pros of the desalination in Israel
Provides Israel with water even in drought
95
Environmental cons of the desalination in Israel
Each plant has power station contributing to CO2 values
Not resilient if sea polluted from oil spills ( 3 temporarily closed due to spills )
Brine pollutes sea
96
Social pros of the desalination in Israel
Meets 2/ of domestic needs
More sustainable than aquifer usage
97
Social cons of the desalination in Israel
Privatisation of water supply makes less affordable
Water doesn’t contain natural minerals which increases heart attack risk
Demand rises as supply does
98
What is water security and what does it involve
Making water available, accessible and affordable.
- futurity
- environment
- public participation
- equity and social justice
99
What % of the world lack access to safe water
25%
100
What is economic water sustainability
Guaranteeing secure access to water at an affordable price
101
What is water conservation
- Improving irrigation efficiency
- recycling grey water
- hydroponics
- reducing consumption in TNCs and domestically
102
What is water restoration
- restoring damaged rivers, lakes and wetlands
- replanting vegetation
- EU funded project to restore northern Aral Sea
103
How does drip irrigation work
Delivering perfect amounts of water and fertiliser to plants in drip lines
The most efficient water and nutrient delivery system
104
How does Israel manage limited supplies of water
- smart irrigation with drip systems
- recycling sewage water for agricultural use
- reducing agricultural consumption.
- piping sea water to desalination plants
105
How is Saudi Arabia managing food demand
1980s - pioneered circular irrigation systems to grow enough shape at to feed itself
Used water from own aquifers
Water levels in aquifers fell sharply
Now government imports grain as wheat farms abandoned
106
Examples of holistic management in Singapore
Traditionally supplied 80% of water from Malaysia - halved by 2010
- per capita water consumption fell from 165L per day to 150L
- leakages cut to 5%
- water prices scaled to increase if usage goes overboard
- subsidies protect poor from expensive water
- whole of Singapore is water harvesting catchment
- recycles water
- desalination
107
How is Israel’s water management unsustainable
- reliant on food imports
- imports water from turkey
- desalination not environmentally sustainable
108
109
