Needs
Lets look at one resource and see how population, growth, and development affect that resource. The resource we will look at is
Water consumption
Water Consumption
High levels of water use cause both environmental and economic problems.
On the environmental side, high consumption places stress on rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers and may require dams and flooding with serious ecological impacts. Also, the discharge of polluted water once it has been used damages aquatic ecosystems.
Water Consumption
On the economic side
High levels of water use require everincreasing and expensive investments in water system infrastructure needed to gather, deliver and dispose of water (dams, reservoirs, water treatment facilities, distribution networks and sewage treatment).
Water Statistics
By installing more efficient water fixtures and regularly checking for leaks, households can reduce water use by about 35% to about 45.2 gallons per day per person If all U.S. households installed water-saving features, water use would decrease by 30 percent, saving an estimated 5.4 billion gallons per day.
This would result in dollar-volume savings of $11.3 million per day or more than $4 billion per year.
Source: American Water Works Association
Drought Prediction
We know that anomalies of precipitation and temperature may last from several months to several decades. How long they last depends on
Topography air-sea interactions soil moisture and land surface processes internal dynamics accumulated influence of dynamically unstable synoptic weather systems at the global scale
Water Footprint
We use lots of water for domestic indoor use but even more for making goods such as food, paper, cotton clothes, etc. A water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect use of a consumer or producer. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as
the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business.
Source: Water Footprint Network (Water Footprint and virtual water)
The production of one kilogram of beef requires 16 thousand litres of water. To produce one cup of coffee we need 140 litres of water. The water footprint of China is about 700 cubic meter per year per capita. Japan with a footprint of 1150 cubic meter per year per capita, has about 65% of its total water footprint outside the borders of the country. The USA water footprint is 2500 cubic meter per year per capita.
Source: Water Footprint Network (Water Footprint and virtual water)
Global population is expected to reach 8.1 billion by 2030 and the need for food worldwide is expected to increase by 55 percent over 1998 figures. At the same time, we will need more water to provide basic sanitation, produce energy, operate industries and support growing cities.
Source: UN-Water, 2007 WWD
Agriculture
The ability to produce food is essential to reducing poverty and encouraging social and economic development. Irrigated agriculture accounts for 20% of the total cropland but contributes 40% of the total food production.
Mans lmpact
Economic development and urban growth often damage freshwater bodies with increased pollution. Sewage runoff can also damage freshwater bodies & many poor nations have little sanitation.
United Nations
Water use has been growing at a rate > twice rate of population increase in the last century By 2025, it is estimated that 1,800 million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions.
Source: World Water Day 2007, FAQ
I have posted some more detailed tables and information on water usage and withdrawal on the course web page under the Course Documents link. I also posted an article printed in USA Today about water issues in the U.S. You will need to review this information. Our first discussion assignment will be based on this information.