1.0 INTRODUCTION
There has been a significant water crisis in various regions of the world over the last few years. Only about 3% of the water in the world is fresh; therefore there is relatively little fresh water available in some regions of the world, these regions are called arid and semi arid regions. The FAO (1987, cited in IFAD,n.d) defines arid and semi arid regions as “areas falling within the rainfall zones of 0-300 mm and 300-600 mm, respectively”. In other words, arid and semi arid regions are regions in which there is insufficient rainfall and rainfall patterns are liable to significant fluctuations. Some arid regions are in North Africa, South America, some parts of central Asia and the Middle East as well including countries like Kenya, Lesotho, Egypt, and Morocco, among others.
Figure 1: Areas experiencing water scarcity in the world.
Source: International Water Management Institute.
The main problem arid regions encounter is the inadequate amount of rainfall available in the regions and the wide variations in the reliability of rainfall patterns. The average rainfall in arid regions varies between 100 and 300 mm per year (FAO, n.d), compared with over 500mm in other regions of the world. Also, arid areas face the problem of the shortage of fresh water provided by rivers and lakes and this shortage has caused health, agriculture and economic problems for instance, in Kenya, where “over 10,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation” (WaterAid, n.d) and some parts of central Asia where there is not enough water to cultivate plants. This report evaluates the feasibility of two different water provision techniques: desalination and ground water pumping; that can be ...
... middle of paper ...
...otes. [online] Available at: [Accessed: 28 March 2014]
• WaterAid.org. (2013). Hand-dug Wells. [online] Available at: [Accessed: 20 March 2014
• WaterAid.org (2014). WaterAid UK - Where we work - Kenya. [online]. Available at [Accessed: 14 March 2014].
• World Water Assessment Program (2009). The United Nations World Water Development Report 3: Water in a Changing World. Paris: UNESCO, and London: Earthscan
• Zhou, Y. and Tol, R. S. (2004). Evaluating The Cost Of Desalination And Water Transport. [online] Available at: [Accessed: 20 March 2014].
J. F. Ortega , J. A. de Juan and J. M. Tarjuelo (2004). Evaluation of the water cost effect on water resource management. Agricultural Water Management, Vol. 66 Issue 2, pages 125-144.
Desalination plants overall could be a huge benefit to society for its high quality of water and intuitive water treatment techniques, however the big environmental impacts and high costs to produce water at a desalination plant makes it unfavorable to most communities especially the poorer communities. Although costs for the production and upkeep for a desalination plant has been going down while the technology of it rises, the only true benefit for having a desalination plant would only come into affect when it is near a body of ocean, such as Tampa Bay Water. All in all desalination plants could soon be the face of future water treatment plants and water sources, but for the present time it is still only a niche water source.
Water shortage in arid and semi-arid regions and declining its availability to a crisis ...
Presently, in the USA the California state is starting suffer with water crises. Therefore, the state started planning many desalination plants. There are three current desalination station, and the government is planning more fifteen. Figure 9 shows the desalinations plants in the California state. There are many critics about the desalinization plants.20 Arguments use against the plants are which use huge amounts of energy, and is very danger for the marine life.20 Desalinated water construction costs approximately $2,000 an acre foot.20 In addition, to produce one gallon of drinking water need two gallons of seawater.20 This process consumes about 38 megawatts to remove 100 million gallons of seawater per day.20
First of all, arid “refers to areas where the climate is extremely dry. Such climates were defined as being areas with less than 250mm of precipitation per year, but in reality this is too simple.” (Skinner et al 2007 p12) The arid zone is characterized by excessive heat and inadequate, variable precipitation. Thornthwaite in 1931, was the first to define an aridity index using the relationship between precipitation and (potential) evapotranspiration, supported by Waugh (1990). However unlike conditions in temperate regions, the rainfall in arid zones differs between seasons. Rabat in Morocco, receives rain during the winter, while the summer is almost null of rainfall. It also varies from one year to another- The difference between the lowest and highest rainfall recorded in years can be significant, but it is usually within a range of 50 per cent of the mean. The variation in monthly rainfall is even bigger. Rainfall and temperature are the biggest factors for aridity, other factors have some smaller influences too. The moisture in the air has effects on the water balance in the soil. When the moisture content in the soil is higher than in the air, this causes water in the soil to evaporate into the air Humidity is generally low in arid zones. “Because of the scarcity of vegetation that can reduce air movements, arid regions typically are windy.” (Waugh 1990 p152) Winds remove the moist air around the plants and soil and, cause an increase in evapotranspiration. Finally, the vegetation cover in arid zones is mainly baron, vegetative growth in arid zones is growth t...
4. United Nations Development Programme, U.N. Human Development Report 2006, Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis, web. 6 Dec. 2009 http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr2006_english_summary.pdf
news.bbc.co.uk. (2014). Bbc news | science/nature | map details global water stress. [online] Retrieved from:
In our generation of new technologies and high civilization it is hard to believe that our World is in Water crisis. This crisis is affecting not only low-developed parts of the world but also it affects high-developed countries, about one third of the humanity suffers from the scarcity of water (Molden 2010). One of the main causes of it is overpopulation. In increasing water demand water sources which we have now are not able to renew themselves. Another factor of water scarcity is not economized water consumption. Nowadays most of countries are beginning to realize that solving the problem of scarcity of water is very crucial. One of them is Mexico where water shortage is the national problem.
This is because only a small part of the population, particularly in developing countries, have access to water of acceptable quality. It is estimated that in some countries only 20% of the rural population has water of satisfactory quality. Based on these statistics, it is clear the urgent need for awareness about caring for water use. Almost without realizing it, we are seriously jeopardizing this essential resource, not for us but for our children's children and their generations, aware that in other parts o...
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
Cunningham, William, and Mary Ann Cunningham. "Chapter 18: Water Pollution." Environmental Science. ; A Global Concern. 12th ed. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2011. 396-421. Print.
People don’t appreciated the many advantages that comes with having clean potable water to use, taking it for granted. A lot of clean useful water is wasted by humans all the time that people don’t care about saving water because they have easy access to it. Clean and safe drinkable water resources are getting scarce as the population grows. The world is facing many problems, but the most important needed to survive, is water. Water is getting low in many countries, therefore habitants are suffering the misfortune of not having the reliable source of clean water. Today many countries are having water shortages; meaning rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater are not enough to rely on for supplying water demands. For example, California is facing a drastic water shortage, the natural water resources are not enough to fulfill their water demands. Water shortage affects the agricultural sector, so as a consequence the price for production
The problem of water scarcity has increasingly spread throughout the world as of yet, The UN reports that within the next half- century up to 7 billion people in 60 countries which is more than the whole present population will face water scarcity (Sawin “Water Scarcity could Overwhelm the Next Generation”). As well the demand for freshwater has tripled over the past 50 years, and is continuing to rise as a result of population growth and economic development. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
Developed countries struggle with managing water consumption. Our high demand in agriculture, industry, and domestic use further complicates this issue. With increasing urbanization and extravagant changes in lifestyle, our use and wasting of water will only increase. As of this year, nearly 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion live without adequate water sanitation. The McDonald's down the street, however, will sell you a 1/3 pounder burger for only 150 gallons. Changes in lifestyle can easily reduce this number and help not only save water, but money as well. Currently, with our diminishing water supply, one of the main goals of humanitarian organizations is ensuring that everyone has t...
Water is an integral part of not only human beings but all other creatures in the world. We use it every day for different purposes such as domestic, agricultural and industrial. Water has always been a prestigious resource. However, the majority of people do not appraise water’s worth since they do not face water scarcity; whereas, in third world countries it is one of the most serious problems. Nearly 2.4 billion people have a lack of water resources in the world, shows the investigation done by the Pacific Institute, an Oakland, California-based non-profit scientific research group. Moreover, every year this number is growing gradually and more people are suffering (Bloomberg News, 2010). There are certain causes which deteriorate current situation. The most influential reasons are global warming, pollution by human-beings and overpopulation. It is known that India is one of the countries which face water scarcity so this essay will consider the possible ways of solutions of water shortage in India.