ISSUES FACING GLOBAL WATER SUPPLIESCGR4M

Safe Drinking Water is Essential

• Video

• Make notes on:

• Source, Distribution, Treatment,

• Number who live without access to safe drinking water

• Causes of the problem

• Effects (associated diseases..)

Water Scarcity• Watch the video and make notes on two different types of

water scarcity that exist and global regions affected

• Water Scarcity

Water around the world

• Africa Water Resources• Clean Water in Papua New Guinea

Distribution of Water: Mexico

• What’s happening in Mexico?

• What does Mexico City look like?

• What’s the population of Mexico City?

Cenotes (underwater caves)

Distribution of Water: Mexico City• 20 million people in Mexico City• Founded on a cluster of ancient lakes (had lots

of freshwater)• 1800s – discovered groundwater – created wells• 1930s – had to dig deeper wells = sign of

problem• Groundwater supplies 80% of Mexico City’s

usable water• Old, rusty, leaky pipes waste 25% of the water

Water Trucks• Arid / rural areas

• If no infrastructure for water delivery, then truck delivery!

• Trucks also serve displaced communities (refugee camps), areas with intermittent supply

• Could be public or private

• In slums (unplanned neighbourhoods)• Water is only supplied by privately

owned trucks• Quality varies

• Sometimes better quality• Sometimes the same thing• Sometimes unsafe to drink!

Help Mexico City !

• What are some things Mexico City can do to mitigate (to make less severe, to alleviate) the water crisis ?

Water Uses

Naturally, as population grows, so does the need for more food – and the need for more water.

Trends

• Since dawn of irrigated agriculture at least 5000 years ago, controlling water to grow crops has been the primary motivation for human alteration of freshwater supplies.

• Today, principal demands for fresh water are for irrigation

Timeline of human water use:

• 7000 years ago: water shortages spur humans to invent irrigation• 1,100 years ago: collapse of Mayan civilization due to drought• Mid 1800s: fecal contamination of surface water causes severe

health problems in major North American cities (Chicago)• 1858: “Year of the Great Stink” in London• 1900s: The green revolution strengthens human dependency on

irrigation for agriculture• The Green Revolution = 1940s – 1960s, research + technology + development =

increased agricultural production worldwide

• WW2: water quality impacted by industrial and agricultural chemicals

• 1972: Clean Water Act passed; humans recognize need to protect water

Conflict over water is likely to increase because of…

• Population Growth• Economic Development• Increased Agriculture• Industrial Growth• Global Warming• Water Pollution• Groundwater Depletion• Shared Resources

• Population Growth – as population increases, so does demand for water, for drinking, for bathing, for washing…

• Economic Development – generally more developed countries use more water, so as countries get more developed, they will have flush toilets, showers, dishwashers…

Link to Millennium Development Goal 7 (Ensure Environment Sustainability)

• Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

• World has met the target 5 years ahead of schedule !• Between 1990 and 2010, more than 2 billion people gained access

to improved drinking water sources.

Despite progress, 2.5 billion still lack access to improved sanitation facilities.

• Increased Agriculture – estimated that it takes 10 000 litres of water to produce 1 beef steak

• Industrial Growth – demand for cars, televisions, computers…

• Global Warming – affects different regions differently – some become wetter others suffer drought

• Water Pollution – polluted groundwater affects supply of water

• Groundwater Depletion – unsustainable extraction (removing faster than can be replenished), can cause saltwater intrusion (makes aquifer unsuitable for drinking)

Contaminated Waters• Video

• Make notes on:

• Different diseases cause by unclean and contaminated water

• Impact of arsenic intake in Bangladesh

• Impact of polluted water in Cambodia

Contaminated Aquifers

• How does an aquifer get contaminated ?• What happens if an aquifer is contaminated ?

- Landfills- Industrial waste sites- Oil storage tank leak- Septic tank leak- Accidental spills- Infiltration from farm land

with pesticides and fertilizers

Naturally Contaminated• Overabundance of naturally occurring iron, sulphides,

manganedes • Seawater can seep into aquifer to make it salty

Consequences of Contaminated Aquifer

• Loss of water source• Aquifer may not be used for decades or ever

• Risk migration of contaminants – it is, after all, a water cycle• Contaminants go to nearby lakes, wetlands..

• Shared Resources: as supply decreases and demand increases, countries get in conflict about who the resource belongs to

Turkey has proposed a series of dams. What does this mean? What are the effects of this?What do you know about the Nile River?

Fast Facts : The Nile River• Longest river in the world• 10 countries share the basin of the Nile

• Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Congo, Uganda

• Covers about 10% of the African continent• 160 million people depend on the Nile River for their livelihood• Within the next 25 years, the region’s population is expected to

double…• Except for Kenya and Egypt, all of the basin countries are among

the world’s 50 poorest nations (vulnerable to disease, famine)• Egypt & Sudan (technically) hold absolute rights to use 100% of

the river’s water under agreements reached in 1929 between Egypt and Britain (colonial power in Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Ugranda at that time)

• "Ethiopia is killing us," taxi driver Ahmed Hossam said, as he picked his way through Cairo's notoriously traffic-clogged streets. "If they build this dam, there will be no Nile. If there's no Nile, then there's no Egypt."

Conflict at the Local / National Scale

• Case Study: The Nile River

Video: Nile River Dispute

Video: Sharing the Nile

Video: Egypt and Sudan oppose Nile deal

Conflict at the Local / National Scale • Case Study: The Colorado River

• Chasing Water: The Colorado River; Flowing Through Conflict

• The Colorado River – The Most Endangered River in America

• The real story of water

Cycle of Instanity: The Real Story of Water

• What are aquifers?• How can wells reduce flows in nearby rivers and streams?• What are some ways communities get water? • What is the issue around agricultural water use?• Why are wetlands useful?• What have we done to them?• What is salt water intrusion and how does it happen?• Issues with Urban Development …• Current Water Management (Issues and Ways)…• What’s desalination? What’s the problem?

Independent Learning

• Conflict at the Local or National Scale – Water in the Middle East

• http://greenfieldgeography.wikispaces.com/Conflicts+at+the+local+or+national+scale

World Water Crisis : Conflict Zones• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2000

/world_water_crisis/default.stm

‘Huge’ Groundwater supply found beneath Africa

• What implications could this have on health and well-being in Sub Saharan Africa?

• Think of access to freshwater, waterborne diseases, agriculture

IRRIGATION & AGRICULTUREWater Management

Agro-Chemical Runoff

• What is a pesticide ?• Effects on the environment

Groundwater Contamination

• Groundwater pollution can occur by:• Fracking• Agriculture and irrigation• Management strategies

• Video: Groundwater Contamination • Video: Fracking explained

Eutrophication of Rivers, Lakes & Wetlands

• What is eutrophication ?

• Video : Eutrophication Animation

• Read article “Nitrate pollution raises water bills” and summarize the main causes of eutrophication

Exam Type Question

• Using multiple examples or case studies, discuss the extent to which agriculture and irrigation impact upon the quality of water supplies around the world?

Solutions• Solutions via integrated water management

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle• Residential Conservation (smart appliances, waste disposal)• Ocean friendly gardens – plants meant for our own climate and soil

require a lot less maintenance• Permeable pavement (so rain can be recaptured)• Reusing water• Low impact development• Ditches on side of road can be used to collect rain water so trees

can use them• Where space is limited, cisterns can be used

• Wastewater Treatment

One Solution

• Michael Pritchard on TED• How to make filthy water drinkable

• Watch the video• Evaluate the project clearly in terms of likely outcomes• Write a response of 50+ words.

SO WHAT’S THE STORY IN 2014Competing Demands for Water