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Chap 11: WATER RESOURSES AND WATER POLLUTION - Coggle Diagram
Chap 11: WATER RESOURSES AND WATER POLLUTION
Will we have enough
usable water?
By extracting water faster than nature can replace it, by wasting, polluting, underpricing this natural resource
Freshwater is available but it is not distributed evenly or managed properly
A global economic and health issue
A security issue due to terrorism
An environmental issue, moderates the climate, dilutes and removes pollutants and waste
Crucial freshwater resources
Aquifer: underground body of rock taht absorbs and holds flowing water
Groundwater inflitrates downward through spaces in soil and rocks
Water table
Zone of saturation
Additional freshwater resources
Surface water: the freshwater from rain and melted snow stored at the surface
Indirect and virtual water: water used to produce food and other products
Freshwater shortages
Water scarcity: caused by dry climate, drought, overuse/inefficient use
Freshwater scarcity stress
How can we increase
freshwater supplies?
Groundwater is being pumped from aquifers faster
than it can be replenished by nature
Dam-and-reservoir systems and
water transfer projects also disrupt ecosystems and
displace people
Freshwater supplies can be augmented by
desalination of ocean water (expensive)
Groundwater/Aquifer Usage Exceeds Replenishment Rate
water pumped from lower depths (more energy and money)
cause land subsidence and sinkhole
development
draw saltwater into freshwater aquifers
Advantages of Large Dams and Water Transfer Projects
capture and store surface runoff from a river’s watershed
use dams, pumps, and aqueducts to transfer water from water rich to water poor regions
Disadvantages of Large Dams and
Water Transfer Projects
displace millions of people,
flood productive lands
impair the ecosystem
services of rivers
useful life expectancy of only 50 years
reduce a river’s flow
and flushing action
threaten fisheries and artificially cheapen
costs
How can we use freshwater more sustainably?
How can we deal with water pollution?