Water

A shared resource

Himba

• Where do the Himba live?

• Who are the stake holders in the Kunene River dam project?

The dam

Kunene River

Water

A diminishing resource

The rate of extraction is exceeding the rate of

replenishment

• chief use of water is agriculture

• major water use in cities

• the demand for water resources leads directly to environmental change: dams, roads, pipes, reservoirs, development...

Hydrologic cycle

• Rain enters the ground• Groundwater

accumulates, lakes fill, rivers flow

• Water reaches oceans by natural courses.

• Evaporation produces clouds, cools the air, leads to rain

• Wetlands purify water and control flow

• Fossil aquifers hold most groundwater left over from glacial period.

• Rain recharges the aquifers.

Efforts to manage water through technofix approach is often

impacted by L.U.C.

• Case: High Aswan Dam, Egypt

• Case: Hopi water sales

• Case: Three Rivers Gorge Dam, China

• Case: Mississippi river flooding

Groundwater depletion

• Ogallala Aquifer United States

• Man made River Project, Libya

• Gujarat over pumping, India

• California river diversion

• sinking groundwater levels

• saline increase• increased pumping

costs• reduced distribution• falling crop yields

The 15 minute brain storm

Groups of three

Task: imaginative scenario

• Imagine you live in a farming community.

You depend heavily on the flow of a nearby river for irrigation. Development upstream has reduced the flow of the river by 60% over the past ten years. A new proposal for development is expected to draw off another 15%.

• What do you do? Discuss for 5 minutes. Write a reaction paper briefly for 5 minutes.

For the next 5 minutes:

List the five worst ideas you can think of for responding to this problem.

Assignments

• Read the posted articles concerning climate and water issues as foundation for the next few weeks.

• These two readings will form the framework of our discussion next week.

• You should also have read through Chapter 6 in Bates.