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A2 Geography > Water Security > Flashcards

Water Security Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the three sources of water?

A
  1. Surface water supplies: rivers, lakes, melting glaciers and reservoirs
  2. Underground stores: groundwater aquifers
  3. Seawater: after desalination
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2
Q

What are the three main components of water demand?

A
  1. Agricultural use (70%)
  2. Industrial and Commercial use (22%)
  3. Domestic/household use (8%)
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3
Q

What is Water Stress?

A

Demand for water exceeds the amount of water available during a certain period or when poor quality of water restricts its availability for human use. Less than 1,700 m3 per person per year.

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4
Q

How might water stress cause deterioration of freshwater supplies in terms of Quantity?

A

Over-abstraction

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5
Q

How might water stress cause deterioration of freshwater supplies in terms of Quality?

A

Organic pollution or eutrophication of surface water or saltwater intrusion into aquifers.
Eutrophication: excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to run-off from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life.

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6
Q

What is Water Scarcity?

A

Below 1,000m3 per person of water. Assessed using population to water equation.

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7
Q

What is Water Security?

A

The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for:

  • sustaining livelihoods
  • human well-being and socioeconomic development
  • preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability
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8
Q

What is Physical Water Scarcity?

A

More than 75% of river flows are being used. So water resources cant meet the demands of the population. Nature’s provision of water is insufficient to meet population needs.

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9
Q

Where does physical scarcity occur?

A
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • Central Asia and parts of the Indian subcontinent
  • Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of water stressed countries of any region
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10
Q

What is Economic Water Scarcity?

A

Human and financial factors limit water use to less than 25% of river flows. Don’t have monetary means to utilise an adequate supply of water. Characterised by unequal distribution and poor infrastructure.

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11
Q

Where does Economic Water Scarcity occur?

A
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • South America
  • South Asia
  • Around 20% of the world’s population face shortages because their countries lack the infrastructure to supply them.
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12
Q

Where is water available/surplus?

A
  • Temperate and tropical areas
  • South America
  • North America
  • Northern Europe
  • South East Asia
  • Australasia
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13
Q

What are two reasons demand for water is rising?

A
  1. Population growth

2. Economic Development

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14
Q

Where is water demand the highest?

A

Where there is a large population e.g. USA. Where there is high industrial use e.g. Argentina (farming & mining) & Australia (high domestic use; farming)

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15
Q

How does climate affect water availability?

A

Latitude, proximity to coasts, wind direction - factors affecting rainfall levels.
Temperature of areas: high temperature > greater evaporation > loss of water
High rainfall > sewers overflow

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16
Q

How does geology affect water availability?

A
  • When water falls through permeable rock, it flows through them and can form aquifers. Water is hard to extract from these
  • When rain falls on impermeable rock, it can’t soak in so flows to rivers/lakes.
  • Some rocks contain salts and minerals that dissolve into the water
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17
Q

How does drainage affect water availability?

A

Large drainage basins cover more land so are more likely to receive a lot of rainfall, increasing water supply. The capacity of the drainage system to cope with heavy rainfall is also key as a lack of capacity to cope cna cause sewage systems to overfall.

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18
Q

What three physical factors must be considered before abstracting from rivers?

A
  1. River discharge
  2. Water quality
  3. Other uses of the river
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19
Q

What are three impacts of over abstraction from rivers?

A
  1. Reduced volume of water following abstraction concentrates pollutants, alters downstream ecosystems
  2. Decreased velocity and discharge will increase sedimentation downstream
  3. Reduced downstream flooding will adversely affect soil quality
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20
Q

What is an Aquifer?

A

Areas of porous rock below the Earth’s surface that is saturated with water. Source of water to surface water sources through recharge and humans.

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21
Q

Why is geology important in the formation of aquifers?

A
  • Require layer of impermeable rock below
  • Amount of water stored depends on porosity and permeability of rock
  • Sedimentary basins where different layers of permeable and impermeable rock are confined and unconfined aquifers
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22
Q

What are three impacts of over abstraction from aquifers?

A
  1. Subsidence
  2. Saltwater incursion
  3. Drying of soils and osmotic dehydration of plants
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23
Q

What are three physical factors that must be considered when locating for reservoirs?

A
  1. Topography (long narrow valley basin, low water volume, low surface area)
  2. Geology (impermeable rock, not tectonically active)
  3. Catchment area (large to increase water volume for storage)
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24
Q

What are three human factors affecting water supply?

A
  1. Increasing demand is reducing supplies
  2. Pollution of water supplies (eutrophication)
  3. Falling supply and increasing demand > price increase > inequality of access
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25
Q

What is Water Diversion?

A

Changing the course of the river so it flows to a different area

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26
Q

What is Interbasin Transfer?

A

Transfer water from one river catchment to another (surplus to scarcity)

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27
Q

What are three positives of Water Transfer?

A
  • Tackle localised droughts quickly/ reduces water scarcity/ inequality of access
  • Protection of habitats such as wetlands from water scarcity
  • Allows further industrial development
28
Q

What are three negatives of Water Transfer?

A
  • High initial investment/ running costs
  • Increases water stress in area diverted from
  • Environmental impact of transfer equipment
29
Q

What is a named case study for Water Diversion?

A

Aral Sea

30
Q

What is a named case study for Water Transfer?

A

South-to-North water transfer

Elan Valley, Wales to Birmingham

31
Q

What is Water Catchment?

A

Collecting water for use

32
Q

What are advantages of water catchment?

A
  • More affordable
  • Can be employed in areas lacking in sufficient surface water supplies
  • Less environmental impacts (no need to over abstract )
33
Q

What are the disadvantages of water catchment?

A
  • Reliant on sufficient rainfall

- Small scale (not suitable for large scale industrial use)

34
Q

What are the case study examples of Water Catchment?

A
  • Bermuda: stepped roofs and rainwater collection

- Gansu Province, China: 2.97 rainwater cellars store water for domestic and agricultural use.

35
Q

What is a Reservoir?

A

Large store of water (from natural river flow/rainfall)

36
Q

What is a direct supply reservoir?

A

Stored water is piped directly to treatment plants for public supply

37
Q

What are the advantages of reservoirs?

A
  • Store surplus winter rainfall
  • Regulate river flow to maintain habitats
  • Can manage/increase water supply on a large scale
  • Large multipurpose reservoirs supply additional benefits: hydroelectric power, tourism industries etc
38
Q

What are the disadvantages of reservoirs?

A
  • Reduced flow downstream

- Flooding of large areas of land for water storage (loss of habitats)

39
Q

What is desalination?

A

Removal of salts from seawater

40
Q

What are the two main methods of desalination?

A
  1. Reverse osmosis

2. Distillation

41
Q

What are the case study examples of Desalination?

A
  • Dubai
  • Thames Water desalination: Beckton, East London
  • Israel
42
Q

How much of Dubai’s water supply is from desalination?

A

98.8%

43
Q

What is an advantage of desalination?

A

Sea water is abundant in many areas lacking in freshwater - a solution to water scarcity

44
Q

What are the disadvantages of desalination?

A
  • Intensive energy usage
  • Brine produced (highly saline and damaging to ecosystems)
  • Expensive
  • Not applicable to land-locked countries without expensive water transfer
45
Q

What are three strategies to reduce domestic use of water?

A

Technological & behavioural advances:

  • Showers instead of baths
  • Dual flush toilets; displacement bags
  • Water meters
46
Q

What are three strategies to reduce agricultural use of water?

A

Technological advances:

  • Drip-feed pipes
  • Micro-irrigation
  • Soaker hoses

Behavioural:

  • Contour ploughing
  • Watering in the morning to reduce evaporation losses
47
Q

How can countries manage virtual water sustainably?

A

Water scarce countries export products low in virtual water and import products higher in virtual water.
Therefore exploit comparative advantages in terms of water efficiency and water supplies.

48
Q

How do land use, ecological management and afforestation affect water consumption?

A
  • Control land use to ensure sufficient infiltration to increase longer term groundwater storage
  • Afforestation to increase interception/infiltration
  • Afforestation > increases evapotranspiration > regulates rainfall
49
Q

What is Greywater?

A

Water that has been used for washing/cleaning but not been mixed with sewage. Reused for purposes where non-potable water is sufficient

50
Q

How can recycling and greywater reduce water demand?

A
  • Allows supply to be met without needing to extract further from groundwater etc
  • Using grey water increases sustainability = less groundwater abstraction needed and less intensive water treatment
51
Q

How can leakage control and reduce water demand?

A

Reduces waste of water > more abstracted water reaches the consumer

52
Q

How much water is lost due to leakages in England and Wales each day?

A

3.1 billion litres of water each day according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW)

53
Q

Evaluate the success of strategies to reduce water consumption

A
  • Requires collective action to be successful e.g. 57% in the UK without water meters
  • Domestic vs Corporate- little impact of domestic strategies
  • Inequality of access LIC vs HIC
  • Importance of behavioural change alongside technological advances
  • Agricultural methods 70% of global water usage (expense, new tech may not be sustainable, need for education to change farming practices)
54
Q

What are reasons water resource distribution causes geopolitical issues?

A
  1. rapid population increase - human welfare vs economic development
  2. Inequality of wealth - economic vs physical scarcity
  3. Climate change responsibility > need for international governance to reduce water use
  4. 200 transboundary aquifers
55
Q

What is local water conflict?

A

Different users wanting a scarce resource - tends to be between different sectors.

56
Q

What are examples of legal agreements on sharing water that have persisted through conflict on other issues?

A
  • Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam 1957 on the Mekong River Commission throughout Vietnam war.
  • The Indus river commission has survived two wars between India and Pakistan
57
Q

What are the examples of future water tech developments?

A
  1. Osmotic Distillation and advanced membrane technology
  2. Electrodialysis
  3. Saltwater Greenhouse Technology
  4. Solar Stills
  5. Sand Dams
58
Q

How would Osmotic Distillation and Advanced Membrane Technology improve sustainability?

A

Less energy intensive method of desalination reducing atmospheric impact

59
Q

How would Electrodialysis improve sustainability?

A

A less energy intensive method of desalination

60
Q

How would Saltwater Greenhouse Technology improve sustainability?

A

Uses solar radiation to evaporate sea water and collect condensation > method of desalination > also useful for agriculture. Can be used on a smaller scale.

61
Q

How would Solar Stills improve sustainability?

A

Low cost; low energy use; small scale; suitable for use in remote locations > efficient at reducing economic scarcity

62
Q

How would Sand Dams improve sustainability?

A

Constructed on seasonal rivers to trap water making it available all year round. Simple, low cost, low maintenance.

63
Q

How do economic developments affect water supply and demand?

A
  • Increasing economic development and standard of living > increased consumption per person > demand increases
  • Increased development > more able to afford efficient tech to meet demand > may increase reliability of access
  • Increase in water trade e.g. water shipping, virtual water trade
64
Q

How will environmental changes affect water supply and demand?

A
  • Climate change > water management strategies need to account for this
  • Need for further integrated catchment management to consider all parts of a river catchment
  • Increased water consumption by humans will impact aquatic ecosystems > may need management
65
Q

How will future politics affect water supply and demand?

A
  • Further need for cooperation - transboundary issues and wider water trade
  • National/international government policies aiming to reduce water demand become more widespread
  • Need for global governance as a source of conflict

A2 Geography (17 decks)

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