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Edexcel A2 Geography
2 Water conflicts
Now test yourself answers
1 The water gap is the difference between the demand for water and the supply of water. The
more the demand exceeds the supply, the greater the water gap. On the demand side, it is the
same three factors given in answer 4 that are increasing demand. On the supply side,
desertification, global warming and climate change are making it increasingly difficult to
maintain water supplies in arid and semi-areas areas.
2 It is because so little of it is freshwater (2.5%) and most of that freshwater is locked away in
ice caps and glaciers.
3 The melting of ice caps and glaciers will release more freshwater, but most of this will end
up in the oceans. More water will be circulating around the hydrological cycle.
4
The main reasons for rising demand are:
• increasing population — more people, so more thirsts to quench
• economic development — greater use of water in farming and industry
• rising living standards — more water wanted in the home for washing, cleaning and the
treatment of waste
5
The negative impacts include:
• the over-abstraction of water from rivers and groundwater sources, thereby gradually
reducing water availability and supply
• the pollution of surface and groundwater supplies, which also reduces the availability and
supply of safe water
• tensions between neighbouring countries sharing the same river or drainage basin
6 Available water refers to all freshwater that is accessible for human use. However, pollution
inevitably makes some of that available water unsafe or unfit for human consumption. It is
the supply of safe (clean) water that is so critical to many aspects of human survival. Polluted
water can, however, be treated and converted into safe water, but this requires technology
and money.
7 Improved water supply can increase food production and, together with improved sanitation,
bring better health and wellbeing. Water wealth is an important factor in the prosperity of
more developed countries.
8 No. There are also areas of economic water scarcity, which occurs where the development of
blue-water sources (i.e. rivers and aquifers) is limited by a lack of capital and technology.
This is commonly the case in many of the densest populated areas of the developing world.
9
Water insecurity means not having access to sufficient, safe (clean) water. It may be that:
• there is insufficient available water (as in semi-arid and arid areas)
• much of the available water is polluted
• geopolitical tensions threaten access to water resources
Typically, it is the world’s poorest countries that are the most water insecure.
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10 A climatic regime of wet and dry seasons often means that the general level of water demand
cannot be met during the dry season. One way around the problem is to store surplus water
from the wet season in reservoirs, lakes and ponds.
11 Water pressure points are locations where:
• the demand for water overtakes available supply (e.g. the Sahel)
• there is potential conflict between different water users (e.g. water supply and the discharge
of effluent)
• there are tensions between countries sharing the same river (e.g. the Tigris–Euphrates basin
shared by Turkey, Iraq and Syria, and the Ganges–Brahmaputra shared by India and
Bangladesh)
12 Equitable use is a concept that all countries involved in water-sharing situations are expected
to recognise and observe. It means ensuring that all interested parties have a fair share of the
water resources, be it of a river, lake or drainage basin’s groundwater.
13 The risks include:
• too much water being exported from the source area
• more water available in the receiving area, which is likely to lead to a greater and more
wasteful use of that water
• pipelines being susceptible to terrorism
14 The factors are:
• the increasing population
• economic development and the continuing growth of the global economy
• rising living standards
15 The main consumers of water are agriculture, industry and domestic use.
16 Environmental costs in the supply area include:
• the destruction of valuable wildlife habitats by the creation of the storage lake
• salinisation resulting from the over-abstraction of water
• the gradual silting up behind the dam
Environmental costs in the receiving area mainly relate to the excessive use of water by
agriculture, leading to nitrate eutrophication and salinisation.
17 It is an important part of integrated water management because the largest demands for water
come from urban areas. It is here that there is the greatest potential conflict between water
users. Water-treatment technology, water-sensitive urban planning and water harvesting and
reuse have a critical part to play in integrated water management.
18 Technology might help to ensure that:
• water wastage is minimised (e.g. reducing leakage from water supply pipes)
• water use is made more efficient (e.g. advanced drip irrigation in agriculture)
• people are encouraged in the various ways of water conservation (e.g. domestic water
harvesting)
The impact of all three should be to reduce water consumption.
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