Importance Of Water Resources

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Water: The Most Basic Resource
Lauren Fleshner
CGC-1D 08
Mr. Paul
April 11, 2014
Water: The Most Basic Resource
Can Canada handle the amount of water that they have responsibly? Water in Canada, is taken for granted, as the country is the second largest users of water in the world. (Clark, 2006, p.477) But, Canada is very fortunate to have access to great amounts of water. Our social, personal and economic lives greatly rely on water. (Clark, 2006, p.478) Canada has many water resources. These water resources consist of lakes, wetlands, rivers, drainage bases, and groundwater. (Clark, 2006, p.478) Canada’s lakes and wetlands occupy around 20% of Canada’s area. (Clark, 2006, p. 478) Canada has very easy access to this water mainly because back when the glaciers melted, most of the water turned into our lakes. 99% of the water still remains from the glacial periods. (Clark, 2006, p.478) “Wetlands are areas of land that have become saturated with water.” (Clark, 2006, p.479) The wetlands cover around 14% of the country. (Clark, 2006, p.479) Wetlands provide many habitats for wildlife. (Clark, 2006, p.479) Another source for Canada, are the drainage basins. Drainage basins transfer all the water to its destinations. (Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay, Arctic Ocean, Gulf Of Mexico) (Clark, 2006, p.479) In order to keep track, “discharge rates” are taken into account. A discharge rate is the “amount of water that flows through a drainage basin.” (Clark, 2006, p.479) Depending on the season, the amount of water can vary. (Clark, 2006, p.479) Another big source of water that Canada has, is groundwater. “Groundwater is water found under the ground. Canada has about 20% of the world’s groundwater.” (Clark, 2006, p.478) Groundwater has many...

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...s to the problem. If Canada continues to preserve its wetlands, then it will be beneficial long term for the country, as wetlands and groundwater are a huge source of Canada’s fresh water. If Canada continues to pollute their lakes, then in the future there will be many more consequences then there are now. Canada will need to spend more money in order to discover and create technology that will be able to remove chemicals from the lakes. If Canada had to pay more for water, it would be very beneficial long term. Potentially the extra money would go towards the city and the population would be more careful with their water. Canada is very fortunate to have the amount of water that is available to them, but having such easy access to cheap, clean water comes with responsibility in which Canadians have to take on to prevent future problems with the most basic resource.

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