Question (2 marks) Suggest two benefits of a large scale water management project Question (2 marks) Describe one impact

of water shortages on people

Question (4 marks/6 marks)

Water World

Using an example(s), explain why small scale solutions to managing water supplies are often sustainable.

The Hydrolgical cycle & how the lithosphere (rocks & soil) & biosphere (vegetation) regulate it.

How humans can interfere with water supplies River Ganges in India water pollution Industries along the Ganges pump their waste water into the river, this makes the water highly toxic to humans who drink the water and bathe in it, the chemicals can cause cancer. Human waste in the river can cause diseases like cholera. Over abstraction of water in the South East of the UK Lack of rain and the over abstraction (pumping out of ground water) has put the South East of the UK into drought. The increase in house building has meant there is not enough water for everyone. There is now a hosepipe ban and farmers have to restrict how much they use. Costs and benefits of a large scale water management project 3 Gorges Dam China The dam is an example of a top-down development project. Benefits Hydroelectricity will be created to power homes & industry. Ships will be able to navigate the Yangtze River more easily allowing better trade in China. The dam will prevent flooding which Ruins peoples homes along the river. Costs 1.4 million people had to be rehomed away from the area made into reservoir, many of them did not get compensated properly or given replacement farm land. Many sites of cultural importance were flooded. The weight of the water in the reservoir has increased the risk of an earthquake. The water in the Yangtze river will be polluted from the flooded land and the sewage and factory waste put in to it, this could kill rare aquatic species like the river dolphin.

The impacts of unreliable and insufficient water supply Drought in the Sahel region of Africa. The Sahel only has rain for 1-2 months a year. Drought causes water holes to dry up-so people do not have clean drinking water. Grass for animals dries up so animals die & people do not have any meat. Crops die so people can not trade and make any money. The land is drying up and grasses die, without grass roots to bind the soil together the top soil erodes away, this is desertification-the land turning into desert and therefore not able to grow crops.

How climate change can impact the hydrological cycle -Warmer temperatures will increase evaporation rates, this means less water in some rivers, lakes and reserviors. -More evaportation will mean more precipitation (especaily flash floods) in other areas, this causes more surface run off and rivers can burst their banks and flood. -Warmer temperatures will mean more water is evaporated from the surface and soil, so there will be less infiltration and percolation and therefore less groud water. -Warmer temperatures will mean glaciers and snow on mountains will melt, this will cause more water to be available and surface run off will increase and river levels could increase causing them to flood.

Small scale intermediate technology solutions-Water Aid in Sudan, rainwater harvesting and pumpkin tanks Developing countries can not afford large scale projects like dams so charities or NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations) help them with small scale projects. To help with drought the charities have to put methods in place which are of appropriate or intermediate technology, this means affordable, suitable to the skills the local people have and made out of materials they can replace if something breaks and needs to be replaced. The projects are bottom-up because they involve the local people in the decision making. A pumpkin tank collects rainwater from a roofs into a clay tank. The tank stores the water safely by preventing bacteria from getting into it. Local people are involved by digging the collection pit and making the taps at the bottom of the tank. Water Aid also help communities by organising them and providing the equipment for hand dug wells. Water from underground is safer to drink as it is not contaminated by things like mosquitos. The wells are properly lined and covered and are deep enough to get water during drought.

KEY WORD BANK Water table, permeable, impermeable, surplus, deficit, intermediate technology, NGO, water harvesting, evaporation, transpiration, groundwater flow, precipitation, infiltration, condensation, percolation