Water security and scarcity

Water security

Having access to sufficient amounts of safe drinking water.

Water scarcity

Limited availability of water to human societies.

See entire glossary

Economic water scarcity

Where a country physically has sufficient water to meet its needs, but requires additional storage and transport facilities due to lack of technology to draw water from water sources

Physical water scarcity

Where water consumption exceeds 60 percent of the usable supply, making it become inaccessible to a particular portion of a population.

Desalination

Services that make water safe and clean, preventing contamination.

Factors affecting water scarcity (3)

• Political: The allocation of water rights and the 

  governance

   of water systems are political decisions.

• Cultural: in regions where water-intensive crops are culturally important, local water supplies can be overused. Additionally, cultural perceptions of water rights and ownership affect how communities share and manage water resources.

• socio-economic: higher incomes are positively correlated with access to water

Uses of water (6)

• Domestic use

• Agriculture

• industry (mining, fracking)

• Power generation

• Transportation (ships on lakes, rivers)

• State bordes (marking boundaries between different states)

Aquifers

Aquifers can get refilled via infiltration of precipitation. Only happen if soil is directly above aquifer. Take very long due to percolation

Climate change effects (2)

• Rainfall patterns: monsoon rains are needed for freshwater supply but monsoon seasons are not predictable anymore due to climate change

• Soil water content: dought-ridden areas due to climate change have dehydrated soils and become unhabitable for organisms —> reduces hydrological cycle in these areas.