Physical Water
Scarcity:
|
Economic Water
Scarcity:
|
Climate
|
Development level limiting
the ability to abstract, treat/clean and distribute water.
|
Hydrology
|
Why Does The Price Of
Water Vary So Much:
- Poorest places often pay highest prices
- Physical scarcity raises the price as less is available, so people are prepared to pay more e.g. desert regions
- Slums in LEDCs pay some of the highest amounts (e.g. $5 per m3 ) because the infrastructure is poor e.g. no piped water so tankers bring it
- Economic scarcity or pollution also increase the cost as clean accessible water must be bought from limited supplies and maybe controlled by corrupt private sellers who charge too much in LEDCs in particular
Environmental &
Economic Problems Resulting From Inadequate Water:
- Drought conditions
- Wetlands dry up
- Loss of habitats e.g. Lake Chad
- Forest fires e.g. California
- Loss of vegetation e.g. Sahel region
LEDCs:
|
MEDCs:
|
Agricultural decline
(irrigation & livestock)
|
Cost of management
|
People spend a long time
sourcing water
|
Industry suffers
|
Disease impacting families
|
More infrastructure is
needed
|
Forest Stress:
- Trees cannot reproduce effectively if water levels too low as don’t produce fruit or seeds
- Trees and plants might die if bad enough
- Large areas could be destroyed by forest fires causing long term damage to the ecosystems
- Droughts reduce the resilience of the forest against disease or to recover from fires, causing ecosystems to change to grasslands
Wetland Impacts From
Droughts – Functioning & Resilience:
- Wetlands rely on river input and also precipitation in the area.
- Droughts therefore can cause wetland lakes and soil moisture to dry up.
- The functioning of an ecosystem is basically its characteristics: what living organisms are there (ecology), how do they interact and what is the food web like.
- The resilience of an ecosystem is how well it can withstand pressures, and how fast it can recover.
- Droughts damage functioning of wetlands as plants and animals need the water to survive.
- If lakes dry up, fish die, and birds have less to eat.
- Also animals like crocodiles that require water to hunt for food can also die.
- The functioning of the ecosystem changes.
- Droughts therefore mean wetland resilience is lower, as the ecosystem is more at risk from permanent damage if too many animals die or fires destroy the area
Water Wars – Conflict
Over Transboundary Sources:
- As water insecurity increases locally and globally, more disputes and violence could occur. The most likely cause are rivers, which are very ‘transboundary’ i.e. they cross borders (within or between countries).
- International examples include Ganges disputes over the volume and quality of water Bangladesh receives from India (see handout or research). Also, the Nile in Africa is a likely area for international and national conflicts as it goes past 10 countries
- Local conflicts include: Three Gorges Dam in China (1 million people displaced, forced evictions, local opposition and dissent crushed, the political elite forced the project) and Tana Delta (100 + murders over access to water).