Edexcel A2 Geography

Edexcel A2 Geography

2 Water conflicts

Now test yourself answers

1The water gap is the difference between the demand for water and the supply of water. The more the demand exceeds the supply, the greater the water gap. On the demand side, it is the same three factors given in answer 4 that are increasing demand. On the supply side, desertification, global warming and climate change are making it increasingly difficult to maintain water supplies in arid and semi-areas areas.

2It is because so little of it is freshwater (2.5%) and most of that freshwater is locked away in ice caps and glaciers.

3The melting of ice caps and glaciers will release more freshwater, but most of this will end up in the oceans. More water will be circulating around the hydrological cycle.

4The main reasons for rising demand are:

•increasing population — more people, so more thirsts to quench

•economic development — greater use of water in farming and industry

•rising living standards — more water wanted in the home for washing, cleaning and the treatment of waste

5The negative impacts include:

•the over-abstraction of water from rivers and groundwater sources, thereby gradually reducing water availability and supply

•the pollution of surface and groundwater supplies, which also reduces the availability and supply of safe water

•tensions between neighbouring countries sharing the same river or drainage basin

6Available water refers to all freshwater that is accessible for human use. However, pollution inevitably makes some of that available water unsafe or unfit for human consumption. It is the supply of safe (clean) water that is so critical to many aspects of human survival. Polluted water can, however, be treated and converted into safe water, but this requires technology and money.

7Improved water supply can increase food production and, together with improved sanitation, bring better health and wellbeing. Water wealth is an important factor in the prosperity of more developed countries.

8No. There are also areas of economic water scarcity, which occurs where the development of blue-water sources (i.e. rivers and aquifers) is limited by a lack of capital and technology. This is commonly the case in many of the densest populated areas of the developing world.

9Water insecurity means not having access to sufficient, safe (clean) water. It may be that:

•there is insufficient available water (as in semi-arid and arid areas)

•much of the available water is polluted

•geopolitical tensions threaten access to water resources

Typically, it is the world’s poorest countries that are the most water insecure.

10A climatic regime of wet and dry seasons often means that the general level of water demand cannot be met during the dry season. One way around the problem is to store surplus water from the wet season in reservoirs, lakes and ponds.

11Water pressure points are locations where:

•the demand for water overtakes available supply (e.g. the Sahel)

•there is potential conflict between different water users (e.g. water supply and the discharge of effluent)

•there are tensions between countries sharing the same river (e.g. the Tigris–Euphrates basin shared by Turkey, Iraq and Syria, and the Ganges–Brahmaputra shared by India and Bangladesh)

12Equitable use is a concept that all countries involved in water-sharing situations are expected to recognise and observe. It means ensuring that all interested parties have a fair share of the water resources, be it of a river, lake or drainage basin’s groundwater.

13The risks include:

•too much water being exported from the source area

•more water available in the receiving area, which is likely to lead to a greater and more wasteful use of that water

•pipelines being susceptible to terrorism

14The factors are:

•the increasing population

•economic development and the continuing growth of the global economy

•rising living standards

15The main consumers of water are agriculture, industry and domestic use.

16Environmental costs in the supply area include:

•the destruction of valuable wildlife habitats by the creation of the storage lake

•salinisation resulting from the over-abstraction of water

•the gradual silting up behind the dam

Environmental costs in the receiving area mainly relate to the excessive use of water by agriculture, leading to nitrate eutrophication and salinisation.

17It is an important part of integrated water management because the largest demands for water come from urban areas. It is here that there is the greatest potential conflict between water users. Water-treatment technology, water-sensitive urban planning and water harvesting and reuse have a critical part to play in integrated water management.

18Technology might help to ensure that:

•water wastage is minimised (e.g. reducing leakage from water supply pipes)

•water use is made more efficient (e.g. advanced drip irrigation in agriculture)

•people are encouraged in the various ways of water conservation (e.g. domestic water harvesting)

The impact of all three should be to reduce water consumption.