Water Lesson 12: Impacts of Water Security Flashcards
3 factors considered in water scarcity?
Availability
Access
Utilistation
Describe availability in water scarcity
physical scarcity of clean freshwater resources to meet demand
Describe access in water scarcity
scarcity due to the failure of institutions to ensure a reliable water supply through water management
Describe utilisation in water scarcity
scarcity arising from inadequate infrastructure to use water resources due to financial constraints
Define physical scarcity
-Largely determined by climate
-Generally affects high-pressure areas between 23.5 - 35° N and S
-Continentality and topography can affect it too
Define economic scarcity
Associated with developing countries that lack capital and technology and good governance to fully exploit their often adequate supplies of blue water e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti
How does physical cost affect water prices
Some cities have to pipe water for many kilometres
How long is pipeline to supply LA with water from Colorado?
242 miles
How does demand affect water prices
If water is scarce, the price increases to manage demand
Where do people not have direct access to water to there homes, but from a tank?
New York and Detroit
How does insufficient infrastructure affect water prices?
People living in squatter settlements rely on water tankers and bottled water. The costs of water from informal vendors is always nearly twice that of standard taps. If people are to have taps, safe drinking supplies and flushing toilets, there has to be an ‘industry’ to build and manage it and the water it delivers has to be paid for
Example of location with insufficient water supply due to slums?
Dharavi in Mumbai
How does where the supply come from affect water prices?
-Water can be free in developing countries but it is not usually treated so therefore not clean
-If water is supplied through private companies that charge market price, the poor lose out
How far can women and children in Ghana walk to get water?
10km
Which country’s government subsidises the price of water to ensure supplies are available for all?
Cuba
% of world’s land under full irrigation?
20%
Use of water for irrigation in water-short or monsoon sreas?
-Traditional irrigation methods used
-Industrial size irrigation, which began in the 1960s using high yield variety seeds combined with fertilisers and pest controls
-Improved food scarcity dramatically but causes environmental concern
% of irrigation provided by dams in water-short or monsoon areas?
30%
Environmental concerns over traditional irrigation methods?
-Irrigation is provided using dams from which systems of irrigation canals radiate causing land to become waterlogged, leading to salination of soils
-So much water is abstracted that groundwater has become severely depleted, especially in China, the USA and India
Amount of water used to produce 1kg of rice in China?
2975 litres
Amount of water used to produce 1kg of beef in China?
17850 litres
6x rice
% of freshwater withdrawal in developing countries used for energy production?
40-45%
Name a TNC now reducing their consumption by recycling as well as introducing effluent controls?
Coca Cola
Country relying on HEP?
New Zealand
How is HEP influence water use?
Seasonal changes in precipitation heavily influence energy production
Energy use water is also used for?
Cool nuclear power stations which can lead to thermal pollution
How many litres of water needed to create 1 litre of bioethanol?
10 000
How many litres of water needed to create 1 litre of biodiesel?
20 000
% of world population relying on unprotected water?
15%
Number of people without access to sanitation facilities?
2.5 million
