Water Scarcity

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

Less than 1% of all water available is for human use

Question 2

What industry is the largest consumer of water

Answer 2

Agriculture

Question 3

What % is drawn from rivers,lakes and acquirers

Answer 3

68%

Question 4

Problem in agriculture

Answer 4

Without water crops do not get irrigated

60% of water available to agriculture due to evapotranspiration and poor irrigation systems

Southeast Asia - boom in groundwater irrigation in 1990’s depleted acquirer supplies

Question 5

How to resolve issues of water scarcity

Answer 5

Find more efficient means of using water in agriculture - particularly true for countries producing large amounts of food eg, Australia

Better water allocation schemes such as Singapore and the pump system

Australia = major - food exports Mainly in wheat, dairy and products is sufficient to affect global prices which impacts poorer nations

Question 6

Australia

Answer 6

Water insecurity is a problem

Extreme weather driven by El Nino, brings periodic droughts which disrupt river flows in the Murray-Darling Basin ( Australia’s largest river system)

Australia have some efficiency methods such as a cap on the amount of water extracted from major rivers

Withdrawal of subsidies for irrigation and trade in water between farmers

Question 7

Kenya

Answer 7

Appropriate tech is applied

Mulching - plant leaves in between crops to reduce soil erosion and retain water

Drip irrigation - reduces loss by evaporation by directing slow-moving water to the base of the crop

Train farmers in water harvesting tech

Question 8

Virtual water

Answer 8

Growing trade in products requiring lots of water in production

In water-scarce countries, importing water - intensive products relieves pressure on domestic supplies

Pakistan has offered farmland to water -scarce Gulf states

Risk of food security to Pakistan

Virtual water exporters = Australia, USA, Brazil,

Virtual water importers = Japan and South Korea