Water security
Definitions:
Water security: have access to reliable and affordable source of water supply
Aquifer: a body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater.
Groundwater: all water found under surface of the ground which is not chemically combined with any minerals
present
Water stress:
 When annual supply of water per person falls below 1700m3
 occurs when demand for water exceeds the amount available during a certain period, or when poor quality
restricts its use.
 when a country’s water consumption is more than 10% of its renewable freshwater rate it is said to be
water stressed.
Water scarcity:
 when annual supply of water per person fall below 1000m3
 Physical: when more than 75% of country/region’s river flows are being used
 Economic: when people have access to water but cannot afford to have it
 Around 20 developing countries
different aspects of sustainability:
 Economic: affordability both to consumers and governments.
 Social: equal access for all, especially those who are ‘water poor’ now.
 Environmental: sustaining renewable water resources into the future, while at the same time meeting
demand and not degrading ecosystems.
Physical factors affecting water supply:
1. Climate
 Regions near equator receive high levels of annual precipitation
 Equatorial areas such as Amazon lowlands have 2 distinct period of wet weather per year
 Monsoon lands of SEA have 1 wet season
 High mountains with snowpack hold vast reserves of water
 High annual temperature cause evaporation rates to be high  reduce water storage
 Major storms lead to runoff/flooding and waste water
2. River systems
 World’s major rivers store large quantities of water and transfer it across continents
 E.g Amazon produces average discharge of 219000 m3 s-1
 River flow increases downstream as more tributaries feed into main river
 More surface water (river) so the area could be receiving some of its supply from elsewhere
3. Geology
 Where rocks underlying a river basin are impermeable, water will remain on surface creating high
drainage density
 Aquifers can store huge amounts of water underground
 E.g Ogallala aquifer in USA
 more water could be got from the fossil groundwater aquifers but this is not renewable as it is not being
recharged.
4. Soil and vegetation
 Thin soils and sparse vegetation mean interception is low
 Tend to be surface runoff rather than infiltration so reduce groundwater storage
 Impermeable bedrock also cause more surface runoff
 Deeper soil more infiltration
 Forested area promote infiltration too ad thus groundwater storage
5. Climate Change
 Reduce annual rainfall and make it more unreliable
 Increase temperature and thus evaporation
 Rainfall is so low water inputs are low  low water supply
June 2014 - Using Figure 2, explain how physical factors influence water availability in areas A and B. (10)
Water sources
1. Surface water
 Rivers, lakes reservoirs
 50,000 world’s dams in China, USA, India and Japan
 reservoirs account for ¼ of the global freshwater supply
2. Aquifers
 Underground supplies
 Sole source of drinking water for about a ¼ of world’s population
 ¾ of Europe’s drinking water comes from groundwater
 Bangladesh and India use for irrigation
 In USA, China and India, water is being abstracted from aquifers faster than it is being replaces
Water issues
 800 million people lack clean drinking water
 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation
 6-8 million people die every year from water related diseases
 every 15 seconds a child dies from a water born disease
 half the world’s rivers and lakes are badly polluted
 Water shortages threaten food supplies
 By 2025 there will be demand for extra 20% more water
 12% of world’s population consumes 85% of its water
Water consumption
 during 20th century, water consumption has increased by 600%
 due to:
1. population growth
2. Agriculture
 Farming uses 70% of all water in LEDCs ad this is up to 90%
 Some forms of farming are less water efficiently than other e.g a kg of beef is 10x more water costly to
product than a kg of rice
 17% of global area used for growing crops is irrigated
 poor management lead to evaporation, seepage, salinization and fertilizer pollution
3. Industry
 Compete with farming needs as country develops
 21% used for industry
 rapid growth expected since development of countries like India and China
 generally more efficient user of water than farming
 cause significant water pollution problem
4. Domestic water use
 Daily domestic water use on average is 47 litres per person in Africa
 USA with 578 litres in USA
 Only 10% of world’s water is used for this purpose
 This varies from country to country
 Most HICs need at least 100,000 litres of water per person per year
 Domestic demand seems to double every 20 years
Human causes of water stress
1. Sewage disposal
 Expected to cause 135 million deaths by 2020 according to WHO
 Diseases such a hepatitis, typhoid and cholera common in areas with polluted water
 In the UK, we add 1400 million litres of sewage to our rivers daily
2. Chemical fertilizers
 Contaminate groundwater and rivers
 Yucatan Mexico, level of nitrate in groundwater is 45 mg/l
 Sewage and fertilizers add nutrients to water and increase algae growth downstream (eutrophication)
 Algae remove oxygen from water e.g shores of Gulf of Mexico
3. Industrial waste
 400 billion tonnes of industrial waste
 pumped untreated into rivers, oceans and other waterways
 heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury
4. Dams
 Trap sediment in reservoirs, reduce floodplain fertility
 Flow of nutrients form rivers into seas
 Damage coastal fish stocks
 Prevent beach formation
 Expose coasts to greater erosion
 Sediment disturbance during dam construction block gills
5. Abstraction
 Aquifers extract faster than it’s replaced
 In arid areas, rainfall can never recharge these underground stores
 Removal of freshwater from aquifers in coastal location can upset natural balance of saline nad fresh
groundwater
 Salt water incursion
 Salinization of wells and boreholes
June 2011 - Suggest reasons for the differences in water consumption for the countries shown. (10)
Total water use:
 Related to level of development i.e. high in USA, Germany and low in Ghana / China; water costs may be
seen as high in Ghana which limits use (economic scarcity).
 As well as this some areas may be seen as physically well-endowed with supply e.g. Egypt and the Nile.
 Highest in the USA; developed water system to distribute water and also low cost in relation to incomes;
some might see water use as wasteful.
 Use is much lower in Germany compared to the USA – some might see this as due to attempts to conserve
and not waste water i.e. efficient supply system; attitudes of users.
Use by sector
 Agricultural use in related to the need for irrigation e.g. in Egypt due to hot climate – perhaps true in India
and other areas (rice). In Ghana infrastructure may not support irrigation and / or farming may be more rain
fed.
 Industrial use correlates well with development level and requirements of industry, so NICs are lower than
MEDCs but higher than Ghana.
 Domestic use is highest in the USA linked to use of appliances etc and leisure use e.g. swimming pools,
gardens, golf courses
June 2013 - Using Figure 2 and your own knowledge, suggest the physical and human factors that might help to explain
the global pattern of water stress. (10) Jan 2010 - Explain how physical and human factors have contributed to the variation
in water scarcity shown. (10)
Physical factors
 Latitude – areas of low stress are along the equator (Brazil, DRC, Indonesia) – influence of the ITCZ
whereas extreme / high stress areas are in the seasonal tropics – influence of the high pressure belts.
 Transboundary sources – some high stress areas in Middle East share aquifers and rivers.
 Climate change – which may be making the water situation worse in some cases e.g. North Africa. Arid
and semi-arid climate which limit supply.
 Geology – whether a country has aquifers that water is stored in for later use, Groundwater supplies may be
low in some areas due to unfavourable geology.
 Long term drought e.g. Australia; extreme seasonality of rainfall or river regimes i.e. monsoons
 Areas without water scarcity are mostly equatorial and temperate areas with high rainfall.
 Rivers may be ephemeral due to highly seasonal rainfall.
Human factors
 Pollution of water supplies in industrialising countries e.g. China, India, Mexico.
 Unsustainable use of water supplies, especially aquifers – salt water incursion at coasts due to overabstraction. Middle East; possibly Spain i.e. excessive demand for tourism and urbanisation in the south.
 Population pressure leading to a mismatch of supply and demand e.g. in India and Bangladesh.
 Political risk and tensions where no agreement on water supply sharing has been reached e.g. Israel,
Jordan, Palestine.
 Virtual water use.
 Wasteful practices e.g. excessive irrigation in Egypt.
 Deforestation interfering with the hydrological cycle.
 Areas of economic scarcity are largely a result of poverty i.e. the least developing countries where water
supplies are not developed even though water is plentif
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Lack of government investment
Jan 2011 - Suggest possible consequences for people and the environment of the projected changes in water withdrawals. (10)
Consequences for people are likely to be:
 Positive as water supply rises, although this could be offset by population rises in some regions such as
Asia and Africa.
 Improvements could be seen in sanitation, water borne disease levels (malaria, cholera), health and general
welfare.
 Some increased withdrawals could be used to support growing industries and others might result from
better water infrastructure.
 Some could see increased potential for conflict, especially in Asia where huge increases are projected and
may come from trans-boundary catchments and aquifers.
 Over the longer term some sources may be over-abstracted to the point they can no longer sustain use.
Consequences for the environment could be wide-ranging and often negative such as:
 Increased diversion and control of rivers, with some running dry or at much lower levels – with
consequences for ecosystems.
 Drying out of marshlands and wetlands as water is diverted to human supply.
 Increased construction of dams and other water infrastructure with consequences for ecosystems and the
landscape.
Case study: Water stress caused by rapid economic growth of China and India
India:
 Has 4% of world’s freshwater but 16% of population
 Demand will probably exceed supply 2020
 Urban water demand expected to double
 Industrial demand to triple
 Water tables are falling rapidly as 21 million wells abstract water
China:
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8% of world’s freshwater but 22% of world’s population
2/3 of Chinese cites do not have enough water all year
National water supplies likely to reach stress levels by 2030
Yellow River and major aquifers running dry
Annual population growth rate is 2.5% in Beijing
Water table has been lowered by 40m
Growth rates such as China’s annual 10% create a demand for water, especially for industrial use e.g. manufacturing.
China’s water issues and solutions, impact of economic growth
Water shortages:
 Rapid development and industrialisation in China
 Northern regions now feel more pressure to produce more food to compensate for this in an already arid
region
 Water sources around Beijing are prioritised for residential and industrial uses so agriculture is feeling
under pressure even more
 Continued urbanisation is also adding to these pressures and more and more frequently Chinese cities are
struggling to meet their water demands
 Population grown from 300000 in 1950 to 2.3 million in 2007
 Many pollution incidents occur every day, 23.4 billion tonnes of wastewater and industrial effluent dumped
into Yangtze rivers
 1500 tonnes of fertilizers runoff delivers cause eutrophication
 low environmental regulations permitted 90% of all discharges to be untreated in 2006
 20000 riverside chemical plants frequently pollute river
 80% of China’s river no longer support fish
 Yellow River contains toxic waste and heavy metal poison human food chain e.g arsenic, lead cadmium
 Yellow River only flows for average of 165 days each year
 Cause developmental disease, mental retardation and stunted growth in children
 Farmers in North China Plain drill deeper for water, Yongding, Yishui, Xia and Hutuo Rivers dry up
 Yangtze River ecological dead by 2010, 186 riverside cities including Shanghai not able to depend on safe
supplies of water
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Development vs Environment:
 Currently economic growth is causing huge ecological problems
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Industrial waste, pollution and accidents are frequently reported and all damage the limited supplies of
water to be found
Chemical pollution also works its way into the human food chain through irrigation of crops, causing
medical problems in the pollution
June 2014 - Using named examples, discuss how both economic development and environmental concerns influence water
demand. (15)
Environmental concerns:
These are likely to lower demand as people become more aware of the problems associated with excessive / unsustainable
water use:
 High levels of river / lake / sea pollution linked to a wasteful attitude and the environment as a ‘sink’ generates
concern and more careful use of water e.g. water treatment.
 Increasingly formal supply system leads to water being charged for and regulated.
 Concerns about how sustainable supplies are e.g. groundwater leading to a reduction in use.
 The role of technology might be argued as helping to reduce demand by making water use ‘smarter’ such as water
metering, conservation schemes
 Some might argue that priorities change over time / as a result of development (from prioritising economic
development towards water conservation)
 The possibility of balancing economic development and water conservation e.g. Singapore.
Case study: Causes of California water shortage
Physical
Human
1. Mountain chains run parallel to coast and prevent
1. Grown from 2 million people in 1900 to 37.7
moist air reaching inland
million in 2007
2. Most rainfall falls in coastal zone no more than
2. Spatial imbalance as 3 quarters of demand for water
250km wide
comes from areas south of the Sacramento – 75% of
3. South and far east of California receive under
the rain falls to the north
100mm of rainfall due to rain shadow cast by Sierra 3. Increasing demands for water exceed natural
Nevada mountains
supplies
4. High pressure systems over Pacific ocean block
4. 883 golf courses, using around 90 billion gallons of
moist air currents reaching southern California
water each year
5. Most of the major rivers are fed by snowmelt from
5. irrigated pasture for beef herds use 5.3 million acre
Sierra Nevada Mountains
feet of water
6. In recent years extended droughts have meant
6. Wetlands have been drained, natural habitats
groundwater and surface storage levels have
altered, fish stocks depleted, to secure water
decreased
supplies
7. Much of California is arid with annual average
7. Additional problems are polluted waterways
precipitation between 200-500mm
8. Over-extraction of groundwater and increasing
8. 65% of precipitation is lost through
salinity e.g Salton Sea
evapotranspiration
9. 13% flows out to sea = only 22% for human use
10. 50% of rain falls between November and March =
seasonal shortages
Solutions
1. Domestic conservation
 30% savings by repairing leaks
 metering supplies and efficient appliances
 50% savings by planting California-friendly
 Drought tolerant plants
 Smart sprinkler systems
2. Groundwater banks
 Saving storm water for release during dry periods
3. Re-using wastewater
 Cleaned water from sewage treatment plants flows into the sea
 Could be re-used for irrigation and industry
 Can recharge aquifers
4. Saving storm water
 Concrete channel storm-drains
 Prevent flooding directing storm water into the sea
5. Reducing agricultural water usage
 Farms currently use 80% of California’s clean water
 A 10% reduction would double the amount of water available
6. Smart planning
 New housing developments should only be built where supplies of local ground and surface water are
adequate for their needs
Case study: Causes of water problems in Tianjin-Beijing
Water supply of Tianjin
1. Beijing draws 60% come from aquifers
2. Tianjin relies on groundwater for about 30%
Physical
Human
1. Northeast China is prone to floods
1. Population of 16 million people
and in recent years, drought
2. Major port with heavy industry, commerce and developing services
2. Most precipitation falls between
 deplete water supply, water pollution
July and September, sometimes
3. Rapid rural-urban migration
more than half of it within 3 days  4. Over-abstraction of aquifers
seasonal shortage
5. Lowered water table by 40m
3. Several wet years followed by
6. Much of Beijing has subsided by between 0.5m and 1m per year due
several dry years
to abstraction
7. Salt water incursion makes water brackish
8. Upstream withdrawals and contamination of five major rivers
entering Hai He river system
9. River pollution from industries
10. Demand of 4.9 billion m3 per year
11. Agriculture accounts for about 65%
12. Industrial output increased more than six fold in last 20 years
13. Domestic consumption risen tenfold in last 50 years
14. Average 240 litres per person a day
Solutions
1. Aqueduct 2500 km long built
2. Divert water from 3 Gorges Dam to Beijing-Tianjin region
3. Projects improve water quality and conserve water
4. Water-saving technologies used in agriculture, irrigation demands leveling off
5. Industries become ore water-efficient and recycle their waste water
6. Shift from heavy to high-tech industry
Case study: water problems in Delhi India
Cause:
 Boreholes sunk deep in the ground among the waterway that traces Delhi’s eastern edge.
 Diesel generators are used and with boreholes shafts, thousands of gallons of groundwater from deep in the
earth is extracted.
 The liquid is transported into trucks’ tanks.
 This method is in fact illegal.
 The boreholes dug without permission, the tanks operating without permits, the water sold without testing
or treatment.
Effect:
 Official water supply falls short of the city’s needs by at least 207 million gallons each day.
 A quarter of Delhi’s households live without a piped-water connection.
 So residents have to rely on private truck owners.
 Exploiting a fast-depleting common resource in turn threatens India’s long-term water supply.
 More than half of its territory is now severely water-stressed.
 The government has made efforts to stop illegal water pumping and sales but it is unsuccessful.
 Delhi Jal Board (DJB) frilled a series of boreholes around the city that released water for 8 hours at a time,
and it hired a fleet of private tankers to deliver drinking water at specified times.
Case study: Water pollution in Ganges
The Ganges — originating in the Himalayas and training into the Bay of Bengal
- Helps sustain an estimated 10% of the world’s population
- The Yamuna, a major tributary to the Ganges, is buried under a layer of industrial foam or contains faecal
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coliform bacteria at half-a-million times the Indian recommended bathing limit
Untreated sewage of 118 towns is discharged into the Ganges
factories— carcinogenic heavy metals (lead, mercury)
farmers— chemical fertilisers and pesticides
animal corpses
How water supply is linked to development  Water Poverty Index
The Water Poverty Index was established in 2002 and uses 5 parameters:
1. Resources – the quantity of surface and groundwater per person, and its quality
2. Access – the time and distance involved in obtaining sufficient and safe water
3. Capacity – how well the community manages its water
4. Use – how economically water is used in the home and by agriculture and industry
5. Environment – ecological sustainability (green water –freshwater taken from rainwater stores in the soil as
soil moisture)
6. Each of these is scored out of 20 to give a maximum of 100
How water links to poverty:
 Lack of water hampers attempts to reduce poverty and encourage development.
 Improved water supply can increase food production, bring better health and provide better standards of
wellbeing
Case study: Canada vs Ethiopia
Canada
 Each household uses 800 litres per person per day
 Water used for lawns, parks and swimming pools
 Issues of rising water bills and leakages
 Water poverty index = 78
 Water use agricultural = 12%
 Water use industrial = 69%
 Water use domestic = 20%
 GNI pp = 33,170
 Population in 2000 = 30 million
Ethiopia
 Each person uses 1 litre per day
 Water is fetched daily from a shared source
 Issues of water shortages, pollution and risk of
disease
 Water poverty index = 45
 Water use agricultural = 93%
 Water use industrial = 6%
 Water use domestic = 1%
 GNI pp = 170
 Population in 2000 = 62.9 million
Case study: Effects of water stress in Aral Sea
Location: north-western part of Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan
Background:
 Formerly, one of the four largest lakes of the world with an area of 68,000 square kilometers
 the Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s.
Causes:
 In the early 1960's, the Soviet central government decided to make the Soviet Union self-sufficient in
cotton and increase rice production.
 Government officials ordered the additional amount of needed water to be taken from the two rivers that
feed the Aral Sea.
 Large dams were built across both rivers, and an 850-mile central canal with a far-reaching system of
“feeder” canals was created.
Impacts:
1. Over 30 years, the Aral Sea experienced a severe drop in water level, its shoreline receded, and its salt
content increased.
2. The water level has dropped by 16 metres and the volume has been reduced by 75%
3. The marine environment became hostile to the sea life in it, killing the plants and animals.
4. As the marine life died, the fishing industry suffered. All 20 known fish species in the Aral Sea are now
extinct, unable to survive the toxic, salty sludge.
5. The sea has shrunk to two-fifths of its original size and now ranks about 10th in the world.
6. Drinking water supplies have dwindled, and the water is contaminated with pesticides and other
agricultural chemicals as well as bacteria and viruses.
7. Highly toxic pesticides and other harmful chemicals are blown from the dried-up sea creating dust
containing these toxic chemicals.
8. As the Aral Sea has lost water, the climate has become more extreme.
9. Respiratory illnesses including tuberculosis and cancer, digestive disorders and infectious diseases are
common ailments in the region.
10. There is a high child mortality rate of 75 in every 1,000 newborns and maternity death of 12 in every 1,000
women.
11. The Aral Sea fishing industry, which use to employ 40,000 and reportedly produced one-sixth of the Soviet
Union's entire fish catch, has been ruined
Players:
1. Former Soviet Government
 Communist leaders have an irrigation scheme designed to develop fruit and cotton farming
 Create jobs for farmers in an unproductive region
2. Fishing community
 Once prosperous industry that employed 60,000 people collapsed
 Unemployment and economic hardship
 Ships lie useless on exposed seabed
3. Local residents
 Health problems from wind-blown salt and dust from dried seabed
 Drinking water and parts of remaining sea polluted from weapons testing, industrial projects and pesticide
and fertilizers runoff
 Infant mortality rates are high, 10% children dying at 1 year old, due to kidney and heart failure
4. Scientists
 Only 160 of 310 bird species
 32 out of 70 mammal species
 24 fish species remain
 climate change make area more arid and prone to greater extremes of temperature
5. Kazakhstan farmers
 Irrigation brought water table to the surface
 Drinking water and food crops salt and polluted
6. International economists
 People in region no longer able to feed themselves
 Land is infertile
 Up to 10 million people forced to migrate and become refugees
7. Water engineers
 Irrigation canals poorly built
 Water leak out or evaporate
 Kara Kum Canal allows 75% of its water to go to waste
Water conflicts
 When demand for water overtakes supply
 When several stakeholders wish to use the same resource
 More likely where developing countries are involved as water is vital to feed their growing population and
promote industrial development
 300 potential water conflicts in the world according to UN
Case study: Middle east conflicts (between countries)
Causes:
 relatively low rainfall
 growing population
 increase affluence e.g demands for swimming pools
 development of irrigated farmlands
 poor access
 declining oil reserves cause instability
 rising youthful population
 arab-Israeli war in 1967
*Middle East uses revenue from oil exports to pay for expensive desalination plants providing extra water, water
and food imports
Conflicts:
 Water comes from River Jordan and three important aquifers
 Division of these water resources between neighboring states cause conflict
 The Euphrates and Tigris rivers originate in Turkey but supply Syria and Iraq with water. Turkey wants to
dam these rivers to improve incomes in Anatolia (south-east turkey)
 This holds back economic development and food production in Syria and Iraq
 Droughts across the whole region between 1990-2005 increased fears of conflicts
 Bombing of Lebanese water pipelines by Israel in 2006
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Turkey has been accused of wanting to cut off Syria and Iraq’s water supply as a result of its GAP scheme.
Threats to Israel’s water probably culminated in the Six-Day War 1967. Syria and other Arab states
objected to Israel’s National Water Carrier Project, and tried to destroy it. Israel retaliated by bombing their
attempts to divert the River Jordan’s tributaries away from Israel.
Successive droughts across the whole region from 1990-2005, triggered fears of increased tensions.
The bombing of Lebanese water pipelines by Israel in 2006 highlighted regional sensitivities over water.
Again, Israel feared that its water supplies were under threat.
Case study: Tensions between India and Bangladesh (between countries)
 Ganges flow through India, but the last part is through Bangladesh.
 In 1974, India opened the huge Farakka Barrage just 11 km from Bangladeshi border
 Further upstream, a series of dams divert water into irrigation systems
 Many of India’s largest cities use river to carry wastewater and from domestic and industrial sources
Bangladesh deprived of water and suffer the effects of India’s pollution
 Although agreement signed in 1990 about sharing, India still in control of situation
Effects on Bangladesh:
1. Reduced flow of river affecting irrigation and food production
2. Fish stocks and fishing industry declining
3. Navigation and water-borne trade become harder due to lower river levels
4. Lower river flows increasing salinization
5. Delta eroding because less silt being carried and deposited
6. Seawater incursion is increasing as delta dries up
Case study: Conflicts between users of Colorado River (within country)
 Water rights between states allocated by Colorado Compact 1922
 Over the next 60 years, a series of treaties were agreed between 7 US states with direct interest in the river
 Giant plumping system involving more than 10 major dams to serve 30 million people
 1920 Law of the River divided water between Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico
 They’re responsible also to supply lower basin states of Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico
 California get largest proportion since it has large population and considerable political power
Players:
1. Farmers
 Agriculture always done well in Colorado River
 Receive 80% of water allocation
 Farmers and ranchers got there first
 Encourage agricultural development
 Government supplies water to them at low cost – 1/20 of price
 Much water wasted in flood irrigation and inappropriate choices of crop like cotton and rice
2. City dwellers
 Increasing demand
 Southwest states have become increasingly urbanized
 California accused of using water that other states may need
 5 year drought and continuing population growth  conflict
3.
4.
5.
6.
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 in 2007, Arizona for the 1st time took full share of water for its cities
Environmentalists
 Recreational development of lakes increase concern to environmental groups
 Heavy use of Lake Powell by tourists cause pollution
Indigenous groups
 Native Americans along Colorado River have claims to water rights based on treaties signed in 1880s
 Have legal battles over these claims
Mexican people
 90% of water is extracted before it reaches Mexico
 Wetlands at river delta are now barren mudflats
 Most of Cucupa fishermen have been forced to move elsewhere
 Delta reduced in size as huge dams in Colorado have retained water and sediment.
US government
Under pressure from own politicians not to change water allocation
Case Study: Israel water disputes
Background:
 Israelis consume more water than any other Middle East country – 2200 billion litres a year
 Israel’s natural supply is only 1700 billion litres – overconsumption
 3 main sources show signs of degradation, irreversible contamination by seawater and chemicals
o Sea of Galilee
o Mountain aquifers located in west bank
o Coastal aquifer supplies 80% of Israelis with water in urban areas
 Short term can be made up from importing water from Turkey, recycling sewage and from desalination
plants
Disputes:
 Syria wants its borders to be reinstated to where they were before 1967, as part of the price of peace.
 This would mean that the Golan Heights would be returned to Syria and 25% of Israel’s water supply
would be compromised.
Israel fear this because:
1. It feels that Syria’s water-management systems are inferior and could contaminate Lake Kinneret.
2. The threat from Turkey’s GAP project could force Syria to divert the River Jordan away from Israel to ensure
its own water supplies.
Water dilemmas in Israel due to overuse and misuse of water:
1. The Mountain Aquifers are mostly located in the disputed West Bank, where urban growth has meant increased
pumping and declining quality.
2. The Gaza Strip is showing signs of salt seepage as water levels in the Coastal Aquifer fall. Israel thinks that if
Palestinians there have over-pumped supplies, causing seawater to seep through into the aquifer, which then
threatens Israel’s supplies.
Solutions:
 Recycle sewage water for agricultural uses  65% of al crops already produced in this way
 Reducing agricultural consumption, shift economy to high technology
 Better water-treatment plants
 Import 50 million m3 of water per year by ship from Turkey
 Piping sweater from Red Sea and Mediterranean to new inland desalination plants. Desalination Master
Plan provide 25% of Israel’s supplies by 2020
Helsinki Rules
Often when countries compete for water resources international agreements and treaties have to be drawn up on
how best to manage shared water supplies. Under the Helsinki Rules there is an agreement that international
treaties must include concepts such as equitable use and share. Therefore the criteria for water sharing should
include:
 Natural factors – rainfall amounts, share of drainage basin
 Social and economic needs – population size, development
 Downstream impacts –restricting flow, lowering water tables
 Dependency – are alternative water sources available?
 Prior use – existing vs. potential use
 Efficiency – avoiding waste and mismanagement of water
June 2015 - Using named examples, assess the extent to which the development of transboundary water sources always leads
to conflict. (15)
June 2011 - Using named examples, assess the impact of using trans-boundary water sources on people and the environment.
(15)
The environment:
 Likely to be seen more as a universal loser as withdrawal / transfer schemes interfere with natural river systems and
lead to the drying up of lakes, depletion of aquifers and this has knock-on effects to ecosystems and biodiversity.
 Saltwater incursion, salinisation, desertification.
 Pollution i.e. pollution from one region entering another (India / Bangladesh and Ganges River); impacts on river
ecology and human health.
 Loss of ecosystem in the Aral Sea due to diversion of river (also impacts on health, jobs)
June 2010 - Using named examples, assess the potential for water supply to become a source of conflict. (15)
Jan 2013 - Using named examples, assess the extent to which conflict over water supplies is inevitable. (15)
Response to rising demand/securing water supply
1. Wells/
tubewells
(boreholes)
Advantages
Disadvantages
- Community scale and skills
- NGOs funded often
- Could vary from very basic to quite high-
- Depletion of groundwater supplies
- Saltwater incursion or unforeseen
tech
- Fast effect, doesn't take long to build
equipments
EG Delhi, India
contamination, e.g. arsenic in Bangladesh
- Unsustainable pumping of underground
water may lead to drop in water-table wage
table decreased for 18cm per year between
1982-1987 in Delhi, India) — land
subsidence may occur, also further deplete
groundwater stored for future use, so
unsustainable
- Limited population impact
2. Dams
- Multi-purpose so additional benefits
- High cost of construction
- Prevent flooding due to channelisation of - Large displacement of people, the Three
river, straightened and widened
- HEP — generate huge amounts of power
in China, the Three Gorges Dam
generates 22,500 MW of electricity each
year
- Help with energy insecurity problems in
Gorges Dam displaced over 1 million
people
- Siltation in river near dam, loss of soil
nutrients
- Water pollution — so water might not be
used for cleaning and drinking purposes
developing countries, by developing
more domestic energy sources
3. Transfers
- South-North transfer in China
- Balancing between supply and demand
- Long-term solution
- An area along three major rivers in
northern China has 35% of the country’s
population, but only 7% of its water
resources
- Large-scale — benefit lots of people in
the north
- Expensive ($62 billion)
- Conflicts and tensions arise due to the
deprivation of water away from people they
once had
- Costly and time consuming to resettle
displaced residents and farmers in the area
— conflicts
- Takes a long time to build the required
infrastructures, had delays several times
- Water pollution issues
4. Desalinisation
Advantages
Disadvantages
- Immediate benefit in terms of supply
- Can be used in areas where there is
- Expensive to build and run
- Coastal locations only
- Energy intensive and polluting — leading to
essentially no supply
- Israel — largest seawater desalinisation
plant — Sorek plant near Tel Aviv — it
makes 624 million litres of drinkable
water daily, and sell 1,000 litres
high water cost — people in developing
countries might not be able to afford
expensive water, so water supply issues
not solved
- Using its technology to help drought
problems and water insecurity issue in
California
5. Lowintermediate tech
— tensiometers,
rainwater
harvesting
- Cheap
- Effective for local people, as it takes a
short period of time for them to learn how
to use these technologies
- small-scale
- Needs dramatic up-scaling to help
significant numbers of people
- Famers could use tensiometers in
irrigation, less water being wasted
Water transfer schemes
In some areas with a shortage of water one of the solutions is to divert water from one drainage basin to another.
However these can produce political risks
Case study: Snowy Mountains Scheme Australia
 16 major dams, seven power stations, network of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts
 collects and diverts water for power stations to create electricity
 water then flows west into Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers to irrigate farms and provide water for
communities in NSW, Victoria and South Australia
Problems:
1. Creation of storage lakes such as Lake Eucumbene has destroyed
2. Snowy river flow fallen to only 1% of its original discharge
3. Groundwater salinization results from low flow
4. Water scarcity set farmers against city dwellers as they compete for supplies
5. Politically fallout forced governments of NSW and Victoria to restore some of the flow in Snowy River
and invest in water-saving projects
6. Record droughts in Australia recent years triggered by El Niño events have used up water allocations of
Snowy Mountain Scheme
Case study: Turkey to Israel Water transfer
 Israel’s Hydrological Service warned that the country’s water reserves are being severely stretched
 aquifers become salinized
 water levels in Sea of Galilee fall
 Demand 1.5 billion m3 per year
 Turkey appears to have surplus water taken from Mangavat River and sold to Israel
1. 2001 – Israel and Turkey plan on undersea water pipeline via Northern Cyprus
2. 2002 – Israel begins talks with Turkey to import 50 million m3 each year using tankers
3. 2004 – Syria objects to Turkish plans because Turkey built reservoirs that retain water along Tigris and
Euphrates
4. 2005 – Israel and Turkey discuss once again the possibility of an undersea pipeline
5. 2006 – water pipeline deal is scrapped as fears of terrorism grow and costs of desalinating seawater fall
6. 2007 – Turkey proposes peace bridge overland pipeline to link all middle east states
7. 2008 – official figures suggest Turkey is experiencing increasing drought and water shortages of its own,
outcome of global warming and poor management
Case study: China’s South-North Transfer Project
 project begun in 2003
 involves building 3 canals to run across the eastern, middle and western parts of China and link country’s 4
main rivers
Benefit
1. Transfer 44.8 billion m3 per year
2. Central government to pay 60% of the cost
3. Water conservation
4. Improved irrigation
5. Pollution treatment and environmental project
6. Will supply big cities like Beijing
Costs
1. Significant ecological and environmental impacts
along the waterway
2. $62 billion
3. 50 years to complete
4. resettlement of 330,000 people will be needed
5. worsening water quality
6. pollution of Yangtze River
7. untreated industrial and city waste water mixed with
agricultural runoff containing pesticides and
fertilizers
8. Huai River severely polluted
9. Yellow River water is undrinkable
10. Conflict in Eastern portion between industry and
people wishing to drink water
Hard engineering
e.g Dams and HEP (3 gorges)
Costs:
Economic
1. Construction of large dams overrun projected costs by an average of 50%
2. Water sales rarely cover costs of water supply in developing countries
3. Multi-purpose fail developing countries in a long run
4. Total global investment in Dams between 1950-2000 is $146 billion
Ecological
1. Dams, inter-basin transfer and water withdrawals for irrigation fragmented 6% of world’s
rivers
2. Floodplain agriculture disrupted, fisheries, pasture, forestry and ecosystems
Social
1. During construction communities are starved of development and welfare investment
2. Communities and livelihoods disrupted
3. Construction of dams in India and China alone is reported to have displaced 58 million people
Case study: Three Gorges Dam
Location : Yangtze River and is world’s largest hydroelectric scheme
Benefit
Costs
1. 18,000 MW of electricity generated
1. Dammed waters will down 100,000 hectares
2. Will supply water to the region responsible for 22% 2. 1.9 million people will be displaced
of China’s GDP
3. Pollution increases as abandoned mines and
3. Flood protection will save lives and cut financial
factories are flooded
losses
4. Dam failure, earthquakes and heavy rain could
4. Navigational improvements could open up China’s
cause serious issues
interior to development
5. Ecological impacts on fishing and habitats
6. Important archaeological and other heritage sites
will be lost
7. World’s 5th largest sediment load. Sediment could
damage turbines and become trapped behind the
dam, raising water levels and reducing soil fertility
downstream
June 2016 - Using named examples, assess the extent to which future water demand can be met using sustainable strategies.
(15)
 Small scale, intermediate schemes are the answer: may be lack unrealistic to meet demand, unless it is tied
with the idea of conservation in places where a complex piped system is required (cities).
 Climate change means large schemes will be required, or that small local schemes become ever more
relevant.
 Greater sustainability is needed, but wholesale sustainability is probably unrealistic.
 Demand cannot be met by sustainable strategies, i.e. some role must be played by large mega projects.
June 2015 - Using Figure 2, explain why some options for increasing water supply may be more desirable than others. (10)
June 2013 - Using named examples, assess the advantages and disadvantages of contrasting technologies to secure water
supplies in developing countries. (15)
Jan 2010 Using named examples, assess the contribution of large scale water management projects in increasing water
security. (15)
Water conservation
1. Reuse industrial and domestic grey water
2. Harvesting roof rain
3. Introduce water meter  consumers more care about about their consumption
4. Modern spray technology
5. Drip irrigation
6. Fertigation  small quantities of fertilizer with fine water sprinklers
7. Drought-resistance species
8. Treat water using filters
9. Strict disposal strategies, education
10. Make sure wells and boreholes not over pumped
11. Install more efficient systems to reduce water costs





Does not actually increase supply
but makes water go further so shortages / insecurity are reduced
makes no further demand on supplies so possibly viewed as most sustainable (no new infrastructure, impact of
biodiversity, additional extraction).
May be difficult to implement as it needs a change of attitude.
Singapore might be mentioned as an example.
Recycling waste
 Using grey water for crops or flushing; effectively uses water twice so is more efficient
 some people may be put off by this idea (unhygienic etc) and it might require re-plumbing or other adaptations but is
‘green’ as it is a type of recycling.
 As with water conservation, might be argued as cheaper / low cost.
Groundwater extraction
 Could be viewed as being quite desirable as long as it is done in a renewable way so extraction balances recharge
(some might argue that it is very desirable on this basis).
 There are problems with over-extraction lowering water tables, leading to subsidence and even issues such as
arsenicosis; salinization of coastal aquifers.
Desalination/water technology
Technology can help increase both water supply and access. Examples include:
 Desalination – provides 70% of Saudi Arabia’s water but it is the most expensive option for water supply due
to its energy use
 Towing flexible polypropylene bags will with freshwater has been propose e.g. Kielder to Essex
 USA uses reverse osmosis membrane technology to filter salt from brackish water
 In developing countries ore intermediate technology is more appropriate:
- Water collection e.g. catching rainwater or building small dams
- Wells built by NGOs e.g. Water Aid
- Using plastic or glass bottles filled with contaminated water exposed to the sun for 6 hours destroys microorganisms
However:



Energy intensive e.g. using fossil fuels to power desalination plants in the Middle East (emissions) and it tends to be
used where population already exceeds water supply so is not seen as sustainable long-term
May have an impact on ecosystems as large volumes of salt need to be disposed of.
High cost of water to consumers, so can’t be afforded by some (economic water scarcity).
Water Privatization
Advantages:
•
Private companies are often more efficient than governments due to free market competition
leading to ‘lower prices, improved water quality, more choice, less red tape and quicker delivery’.
•
•
•
•
Privately-owned industries often have more incentive and expertise to ensure their businesses
succeed, whilst governments may be politically motivated and prone to corruption. Such factors
allow private water companies to generate large profits and a high rate of return, allowing further
investment.
Private companies also have a greater financial ability to finance the large investments and
technical expertise needed to repair and improve the water systems and meet new European water
quality standards.
In cities in India, private operator, Veolia, increased water supply from once every two to 15 days
for a couple of hours to 24/7 water for 180,000 people (12 per cent of the population of the three
cities) within two years of starting operations in 2006.
Though in many cases prices increased for those who previously had access to water, millions
finally had access to piped water, thereby lowering child mortality — and facilitating better
hygiene.
Disadvantages:
•
•
•
•
•
private water companies usually increase prices on the water they provide. In some cases, these
price increases have been so hefty as to knock poor consumers out of the market entirely, leaving
them, again, with no access to water because they cannot afford it even when it is physically
accessible.
The UN Development Program notes that privatisation has hurt many in the developing world,
where poor people pay some of the highest prices for water. For example, the poorest 20% of
households in El Salvador, Jamaica, and Nicaragua spend up to 10% of their income on water.
Privatisation schemes often appear undemocratic in that they exclude the citizenry from the
decision-making processes in what was formerly a public utility.
Privatisation often results in local job losses as multinational corporations both reduce work
forces through improved efficiencies and transfer jobs to workers in other countries.
In some cases, private companies have retreated from particularly poor areas where returns on
investment have been low or from areas where local resistance and protests against privatisation
have made for bad public relations. In these cases, the cost of picking up the pieces is often higher
for local governments than it might have been had the private companies not been there in the first
place.
Case study: Turkey’s GAP project
Background:
 Regional variations in rainfall
 Summer droughts in Anatolia
 Shortages in Ankara and Istanbul
Southern Anatolia Project:
 $32 billion
 construct 22 dams
 19 HEP plants
 2 water transfer tunnels
 provide 22% of turkey’s electricity by 2010
 provide irrigation for 1.7 million hectares
 diversify agriculture into cash crops
 stop migration of young people from the region
 help southeast Anatolian economy grow by 400%
 help Turkish economy grow by 12%
Geopolitical impacts:
 Syria and Iraq unhappy about project
 It involves damming Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, which provide both countries with much water
 New dams restrict water flow while their huge reservoirs fill up
Case study: Restoring Aral Sea
 In 2007 the Kazakhstan government secured a $126 million loan from the World Bank to help save the
northern part of the Aral Sea.
 The government has already built a dam to split the sea into 2 parts and the new loan is to be used to build a
dam to bring the water back into the deserted port of Aralsk.
1. Fisherman have been able to resume fishing
2. Rain has returned
3. The southern part of the sea is still shrinking
4. The waters from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya are controlled by other countries
Case study: Murray Daring Basin environmental degradation due to technological fixes
 Agricultura reallocates most water via a system of 30 dams, reducing total outflow of Murray River by 80%
 Natural floodplains no longer flood
 Red gum trees dying through lack of water
 50-80% of native wetland bird and fish now extinct
1. Salinity
 Salt concentrations highest when river flow is low
 Salinity levels along Murray River increasing due to irrigation and drought
 Farmers lose produce
 Natural habitats destroyed
 Corrode roads, bridges, building foundations and pipes in Wagga Wagga and Shepperton
2. Eutrophication
 Fertilizers used by farmers washing off land and cause algae blooms
 Reduce oxygen in water to lifeless levels
3. Groundwater
 Becoming depleted as farmers extract 4% extra per year
 Irrigation raise water table and cause waterlogging
 Reduce oxygen levels and drown plants
4. Soil Degradation
 Structure and fertility of soil is declining due to over cropping
 Acidification because of over farming
 Infertile soils
5. Ecosystem loss
 Barmah-Millewa Forest cleared to create more farmland
 Macquarie Marshes and Narran Lakes lost due to over extraction of water for farmers
6. Cultural loss
 Removal of indigenous Aboriginal population as farmers take more land
 Loss of heritage sites as land converted to cereal production
Players
1) World Trade Organisation
 The WTO is now encouraging countries to open up their economies to private investment — in return for
debt relief.
 Countries wishing to develop major water schemes have been turning to private companies for finance.
 Therefore, as countries follow the WTO guidelines, control of their water infrastructures is being
transferred to multinational companies, such as Veolia/ Vivendi, Ondeo and Bechtel.
 Water supplies may be improved, but the local consumers have to pay for it.
 Water Riots could become a common sight as conflicts arise over the price of water.
2) The United Nations
 The UN’s World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) was established in 2000 to monitor changes in
demand for water and the likelihood of international tensions.
 It is the role of international institutions such as the UN to try to find peaceful solutions when conflicts
arise.
3) TNCs
The Nature Conservancy:
- A charitable environmental organisation
- Its mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends
- Based in Virginia since 1951, impacts conservation in 69 countries, including all 50 states of the US
4) NGOs



usually work in the developing world on a range of often small scale projects for those in water poverty i.e. clean
water from wells (contrary case of arsenic‐ poisoned Bangladesh tube‐ wells could be mentioned);
role is especially important in the developing world where their projects often make a real difference albeit very
locally.
such projects increase security by making water available; might be seen as working ‘for all’ in the sense of those
most in need to water. Alternatively could be seen as small scale – can’t help everyone.
Water Aid:
 Aim to get safe water, sanitation and hygiene to everyone, everywhere by 2030 to those most in need
 make transformational change happen so that governments across the world provide all of it
 tackles their citizens with affordable, sustainable services.
 Work with local partners to reach the poorest an most marginalized people
 call on governments to provide solutions for everyone, everywhere.
 Technologies used: rain harvesting, gravity-fed schemes, hand-dug wells, subsurface dams
 Success: In Mali in 2014, they have reached 37, 000 people with safe water, 49,000 people with improved
sanitation
Toilet Twinning:
 Provides people in the poorest communities on the planet with a decent toilet, clean water and all the
information they need to stay healthy.
 Pay 60 pounds to twin your loo with a latrine halfway around the world (donation)
 A group of students at the University of Warwick went all out for toilets in their final year – and twinned
almost 50 toilets in the Students’ Union.
 Others at Bristol and Durham universities also kicked student stereotypes into touch by raising awareness
and dosh for dunnies.
5) Individuals, farmers, consumers






some may be seen as excessive users or users who return water in an unfit condition e.g. farming leading to
eutrophication of supplies, or industry discharging pollution – so water is not safe for others to use.
Demands for lower prices and / or more efficient supply.
Consumers might be seen as paying the bills but with little power, or as environmentalists demands better standards /
lower impact on the environment
have a key role in managing consumption as buyers of water and buyers of water saving devices. They have to be
convinced of the need to be
sustainable in order to change consumption behaviour.
in the developing world many people secure their own supply, or act as a vendor. Many use water unsustainably due
to lack of alternatives.
6) Governments:

water quality standards should ensure safety, major supply infrastructure such as dams, pipelines, transfer systems,
desalination plants secure supply; possible role in resolving conflict.
 Increased conflict between governments if transboundary issues are involved plus increased pressure to
spend vast sums of money to ensure supply, e.g. in China. There are lots of possible examples here.



provide strategic direction and may sponsor large scale projects such as Spain’s Ebro diversion and the Chinese
South-North project
have a role in over-coming international disputes along with IGOs.
IGOs such as the WB/IMF often provide financing for large scale water developments especially in the developing
world.
7) Water companies:







responsible, in countries like the UK, for delivering water and managing water supplies.
Could be seen positively i.e. water is low cost, safe, reliable in many developed countries.
Privatisation (e.g. Bolivia) might be seen as negative for some i.e. profit before people. TNCs could be seen in a
different light to more local companies.
complex role due to profit motive
in developed countries they may be seen as the key player in providing safe, clean water – infrastructure investment is
key to reducing wastage
water metering may be mentioned.
Big business / TNCs might be mentioned as consuming too much / not caring.
8) Environmental pressure groups:
 raise awareness and campaign to reduce waste or block projects which are seen as not sustainable.
Jan 2013 - Using Figure 1, explain the contribution that the players make to ensure safe and secure water supplies for all. (10)
Jan 2012 - Evaluate the consequences, for different players, of an increasing gap between water supply and demand. (15)
Consumers:
 For people in the developed world the result is likely to be rising costs and possibly restrictions on supply,
especially where use is considered a luxury, e.g. swimming pools; short term hose-pipe bans and longer
term policies such as metering or conservation gardening etc.
 Some consumers might be insulated by technology, e.g. desalinisation plants in the Middle East.
 For developing world consumers the consequences could be spiralling costs and severe shortages, i.e. a
water crisis in locations such as India or parts of Africa. Farmers could suffer direct losses.
 Costs from water vendors in urban area.



Increased demand for NGOs to step in and try to improve water supplies for the most in need.
Increased conflict between governments if transboundary issues are involved plus increased pressure to spend vast
sums of money to ensure supply, e.g. in China. There are lots of possible examples here.
Some might argue that water companies are likely to do well even if supply and demand do not match as they can
charge more and supply less.
Jan 2011 - Using examples, assess the role of named players in securing water supplies. (15)
Future
Scenario
Business as usual
Water changes by 2025
1. Water Scarcity reduce food
production
2. Consumption rise by over 50%
3. Household water increase by 70%
4. Industrial water demand increase in
developing countries
Water crisis
1. Global water consumption increase
2. World wide domestic water demand
all
3. Demand for industrial water increase
by 33%
Sustainable water
1. Global water consumption and
industrial water use fall
2. Environmental flows increased
3. Global rain-fed crop yields increase
4. Improvements in water harvesting
5. Use sustainable farming techniques
6. Agricultural and household water
prices increase
Wider impacts
1. Developing countries become more reliant on
food imports, experience increased hunger
2. Sub-Saharan Africa, grain imports more than
triple
3. In parts of western USA, China etc. water
will be pumped faster than aquifers can
recharge
1. Food production decline
2. Food prices esp. cereals increase rapidly
3. In developing countries malnutrition increase
4. Dam building decline
5. Key aquifers in China fail
6. Conflict over water between and within
countries will increase
1. Food production increase slightly
2. Prices fall slowly
3. Investment in crop research
4. Technology and water-management increase
5. Unsustainable pumping of groundwater end
6. Government delegate farm management ot
community groups
June 2016 - Using Figure 2, explain the
causes and consequences of the
differences in water cost. (10)
June 2010 - Explain how human interference in the water cycle can affect water availability (10)
 Precipitation levels can be altered by local factors such as forest clearance, which reduces
evapotranspiration and leads to a drier climate; globally climate change may alter precipitation patterns so
that some areas have reduced levels and others increased.
 River runoff can be altered by dam construction and abstraction for industry and domestic use, reducing
availability in particular locations.
 Land use changes can alter infiltration rates which in the long term can have consequences for groundwater
availability.
 Groundwater flow can be altered by over abstraction and groundwater mining lowering water tables
beyond the reach of wells; in some cases over irrigation, and in urban areas, water tables may rise.
 Rivers, lakes and groundwater can become polluted which reduces the availability of useable water.
 Interference in cloud formation and precipitation e.g. use of silver iodide for cloud seeding in China and
elsewhere.