Water

As prepared by:
Timothy Galisin
01BEHS-201005-00108
EHS3013

Introduction
Water is an essential in our life
The rivers, streams and seas provides
us all the benefits
A prerequisite of sustainable
development must be to ensure
uncontaminated streams, rivers, lakes
and oceans.
Access to clean, consumable water is a
constant concern.

What is a Watercourse?

Body of flowing water

a river, creek or other natural watercourse (whether modified or
not) in which water is contained or flows (whether permanently or
from time to time); and includes:
(i) a dam or reservoir that collects water flowing in a
watercourse; and
(ii) a lake or wetland through which water flows; and
(iii) a channel into which the water of a watercourse has been
diverted; and
(iv) part of a watercourse; and
(v) an estuary through which water flows.
(Water Act 2007 (Australia))

Pollution of Watercourses
Caused by release of effluents into
rivers, seas and any body of flowing
water.
Untreated effluents blankets the
water till the water can no longer
support
Deoxygenated waters causing deaths
to water organisms.

Pollution of Watercourses
Case studies:
Researcher John Sheail reports of 2 cases of
pollution by beet-sugar and milk industries.
Both industries discharges untreated effluents
into the rivers via sewage.
The effluents, not toxic, but decomposition
causes reduction of dissolved oxygen and
causes destruction of aquatic ecology.
Solution: a sewage plant that treats effluents
by using double filtration.

Water Extraction
Term used to define usage of water by the people
for domestic use and in some places, irrigation for
crops.
Methods used to extract water:
Bores to extract ground-water. This water may be very
old and only replaced very slowly at a minimal rate.
Large Dams on rivers.
Pumping from rivers is the easiest method where there is
all-year flow.
Small (farm) dams.
Off-stream storage. This novel approach uses flood-water
to fill vast tanks. It is used to irrigate crops in some parts.

Contd
In this dry continent, almost all of the water that falls as rain is used
by the environment, so that any extract or intercept may have an
effect. There are two classes of species that are potentially
impacted: those that live in the water (e.g. fish) and those that need
to access groundwater.
The effects can take various forms:
Reduced flow in creeks and rivers. If too much water is removed,
flows will reduce, and may cease earlier after rain than they would
without extraction. This can even happen with bores if the
groundwater usually enters the river as springs. Large dams also
trap the first wet-season floods that normally trigger the annual
growth cycle in rivers and floodplains.
Lowered water table. Some plants need to tap into ground water to
survive dry periods. In the NT this is the case for riparian (riverside)
and rainforest trees, and for some eucalypt woodlands which also
use moisture in the soil layer.

Effects of Water Extraction

Reduced flow in creeks and rivers.
Lowered water table. Some plants need to tap into
ground water to survive dry periods.
Irrigation Salinity saline due to accumulated salts
that leached down the ground
Large dams:
Alter rivers physical properties
Slow upstream
Stops upstream migration of fishes

Minimizing Water Extraction

In order to minimise the impact of water extraction on
wildlife, we must recognise the need to reserve water for the
environment. Managing water use has some unique
problems.
Because water flows through the landscape, the effects of
using water in one place can take place far away. Also, while
one bore, pump or farm dam may not have a detectable
impact, the cumulative effect of dozens of these across a
catchment may have a very large effect.
These problems emphasize the need to plan water use in a
thorough manner. Most of the problems with water
extraction relate to the proportion of the total available
water that is used. If this proportion is kept within reasonable
limits, both at local and catchment scales, the impacts will
be minor and acceptable.

 There are also some principles that should be noted

when planning to extract water from the environment:
Experience around the world confirms that dams on
main river channels are often harmful to the
environment.
On any farm, the use of water that fell as rain on that
farm, is likely to have less impact than using water
that fell outside the farm.
Off-stream storage of wet-season flow probably has
the least impact of any method for water capture.
When water is not wasted, there is less chance of
impact, on water dependant wildlife, of soil salinity
and of pollution of waterways.

Water & National River

Authority
UK government agency launched in 1989.
In April 1996, the NRA was absorbed into
Environment Agency.
Roles:
Management of water resources
investigating and regulating pollution
Takeover of flood controls and land drainage
from the former ten regional water
authorities of England and Wales.

Water & National River

Authority

MALAYSIA (WATER SUPPLY DEPT. UNDER MINISTRY OF

ENERGY, GREEN TECHNOLOGY &WATER)
Est. in 2004
Management of water resources for the country
Roles:
To plan, implement, coordinate and monitor national water
supply development programmes/projects to meet the targets
that fulfil the needs of the people and nation
To plan, monitor and implement the development of water
resources
To monitor the quality of raw water at intakes in Malaysia and
of treated water in Sabah and Sarawak
To carry out safety monitoring on high-risk water supply dams
and tanks on slopes

REFERENCES

http://dictionary.nwc.gov.au/water_dictionary/item.cfm?
id=940&cRefer=1&sRefer=60
Sheail J., The Agricultural Pollution of Watercourses: The
Precedents Set by the Beet-sugar and Milk Industries, The
Agricultural History Review, 1993, Viewed on 23rd March 2012,
www.bahs.org.uk/41n1a3.pdf
http://www.nretas.nt.gov.au/plants-andanimals/programs/blackrat/threats/water
http://www.talktalk.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m
0027296.html
http://www.jba.gov.my/index.php