Water Insecurity

• water insecurity occurs when supply cannot meet demand
• water stress is when demand exceeds supply and there is less than 1700 metres cubed of water available per person
• water scarcity is when available water per person is below 1000 metres cubed
• physical water scarcity is when there isn't enough freshwater held in lakes, reservoirs and groundwater to meet demand
• economic water scarcity is when water held in rivers, lakes and groundwater is inaccessible due to lack of investment in technology to extract and transport water
• physical factors causing water insecurity are

  • the type of climate
  • rising sea levels (salt water encroachment)
  • climate viability
• the climate viability case study is California as they have great range in precipitation but there is high demand which causes droughts.

  climate change increased evaporation from California reservoirs like Shasta Lake (currently at its lowest capacity ever)
• 3 human causes of water insecurity?

  water pollution from agriculture (fertilisers)

  industrial waste polluting water (arsenic)

  over abstraction
• the case study for over abstraction is the Aral Sea

  • former large lake bordering Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
  • from 1960 to 2010 shrunk 10% its former size
  • shrinking since 1960s as irrigation canals built to divert water to cotton fields leaked
  • July temperatures reach 30 degrees leading to more water loss
• 4 reasons why the global demand for water is increasing causing water insecurity?

  population growth

  industrialisation

  agriculture

  living standards
• 4 things cost of water depends on?

  cost of transport from source to place of need

  market, as demand increases, price increases

  how accessible the water is

  more polluted the water, more costly it is to purify
• 4 things water supply is important for in determining economic development?

  energy supply

  industry

  trade

  agriculture
• 3 things water is needed for human wellbeing?

  clean water supply to prepare food

  showers and sanitation

  effective sewage systems to avoid disease from human waste contaminating water
• 3 economic problems caused from inadequate water supply?

  • hinders development of industries that need water
  • less water provided in schools - more young people uneducated - less skilled employment - little future economic development
  • lack of education for girls due to walking to get water daily
• 3 environmental problems caused by inadequate water supply?

  extinction of species and habitat

  fertilisers causing eutrophication - algal bloom - depriving oxygen of plants and animals

  pools and lakes cant regulate local moisture levels and temperature
• inadequate water supply can cause conflicts within countries as different groups of people have the same supply of water.

  it can also cause conflict between countries as they share rivers on borders, like River Nile case study
• River Nile Case Study Info

  • flows through 11 countries but Sudan and Egypt have full rights
  • conflict between downstream Egypt and upstream Ethiopia
  • 1959 Egypt and Sudan gained permission to stop developments on course of Nile
  • 2020 Ethiopia built Grand Reinissance Dam to prevent drought and flooding
  • Problem for Egypt because water held behind dam increases rate of evaporation reducing water flow for Egypt