This document discusses various topics related to water resources including:
- The importance of water for sustaining life and moderating climate.
- Distribution of the Earth's water supply and monitoring of water resources.
- Properties of water and the hydrologic cycle.
- Types of surface water including streams, lakes, and reservoirs.
- Drainage patterns, watersheds, and river basins.
- Causes and impacts of freshwater shortages including overuse, drought, and climate change.
- Advantages and disadvantages of dams and desalination for addressing water shortages.
- Human impacts on flooding and methods for flood control.
- Reducing water waste to decrease burden on wastew
8. Properties of Water
Strong Forces of Attraction
Exists as Liquid Over Wide Temperature Range
Changes Temperature Slowly
Evaporation Takes Large Amounts of Energy
Can Dissolve a Variety of Compounds
Filters UV Radiation
Expands When Frozen
9. Hydrologic Cycle
Water Characteristics
•Flow
•Viscosity
•Infiltration Capacity
•Gradiant
Fig. 15-3, p. 460
11. Surface Water is RunOff
Streams
Lakes
Wetlands
Reservoirs
12.
13. World Drainage Basin
An area which a stream or river and its tributaries
carry all surface runoff.
14. Ocean Drainage Basins
The Atlantic Ocean drains approximately 47% of all land
in the world.
The Pacific Ocean drains just over 13% of the land in the
world.
The Arctic Ocean basin drains most of Western and
Northern Canada east of the Continental Divide.
The Indian Ocean drains around 13% of the Earth's land.
The Southern Ocean drains Antarctica.
15. Watershed
A watershed or drainage basin is a region from which
water drains into a stream, lake, reservoir, wetland or
other body of water
16. River Basins
The three largest river
basins (by area), in order
of largest to smallest,
include the Amazon basin,
the Congo basin, and the
Mississippi basin.
The three rivers that drain
the most water, from most
to least, are the Amazon,
Congo , and Ganges
Rivers.
18. Endorheic Drainage Basins
Inland basins that do not
drain into an ocean;
18% of all land drains to
endorheic lakes or seas.
The largest of these consists
of much of the interior of
Asia, and drains into the
Caspian Sea and the Aral
Sea.
Evaporation is the primary
means of water loss
Aral Sea Drainage Basin
Water is typically more
saline than the oceans.
19. Types of Drainage Systems
1. Dendritic
Drainage
2. Rectangular
Drainage
3. Trellis Drainage
4. Radial Drainage
5. Deranged
Drainage
Fig. 15-23, p. 481
20. Drainage Patterns and Geology
Dentritic Drainage Erosion Deposits
Rectangular Drainage Regional Joint Systems
Folded Sedimentary Rock
Trellis Drainage
Volcanoes
Radial Drainage
Swamps and Lakes
Deranged Drainage
21. Tennessee Drainage Basin
Check Google Watershed is part of Alabama,
Earth and Identify Georgia, Mississippi, North
the Type of
Carolina, and Tennessee
Drainage Basin
The Tennessee River is formed at
the confluence of the Holston and
French Broad Rivers Georgia
The river has been dammed
numerous times, primarily by
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
projects. Tennessee
22. Stream Piracy
Occurs when headward erosion breaches a divide
and diverts some or all of the drainage of another
stream system.
The Hadhramawt Plateau
of South Yemen exhibits a
complex dendritic drainage
pattern and excellent
examples of quot;stream
piracy”. B
A. - Wadi Hadhramawt opens
into the sand-filled Ramlat
Sabatayn in the southwest
corner of the Rub-al-Khali (The A
Empty Quarter), B - yet
drainage is toward the sea.
23. • Deliver nutrients to the sea
sustain coastal fisheries
• Deposit silt that maintains deltas
• Purify water
• Renew and nourish wetlands
• Provide habitats for aquatic life
• Conserve species diversity
25. Importance of Ground Water
Aesthetic Value: beautiful caves, caverns and
deposits
Economic Value: source of fresh water for
agriculture, industry and domestics use.
Bequeath Value: need to conserve water for future
generations.
Ecological Services: supports ecosystems, filters
chemical pollutants, filters microscopic organisms
26. Groundwater
Water located beneath the
ground surface in soil pore
spaces and in the fractures
of lithologic formations.
Includes soil moisture,
permafrost (frozen soil),
immobile water in very low
permeability bedrock, and
deep geothermal or oil
formation water.
The study of the distribution
and movement of
groundwater is
hydrogeology.
27. Aquifers
A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is
called an aquifer when it can yield a usable
quantity of water.
Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest in the world.
28. Confined vs. Unconfined
The upper level of this
saturated layer of an
unconfined aquifer is
called the water table
or phreatic surface.
29. Water Table
The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock
become completely saturated with water is called the water table.
32. HOW MUCH OF THE WORLD’S
RELIABLE WATER SUPPLY ARE WE
WITHDRAWING?
33. Global Water Withdrawal
78% of Global Water
Supply Withdrawn Each Year
18% is for Irrigation;
40% is for World Food
Production
20% for Industry
35. U.S. Water Withdrawal & Use
United States China
Agriculture
Agriculture 87%
41%
Power
cooling
38%
Public 6% Industry 7%
Industry 11% Public 10%
36. Global Water Withdrawal
Global withdrawal has increased 9x in the
last 100 years
Humans now withdraw about 34% the
worlds reliable runoff
Rates are predicted to double in the next
20 years and exceed demand in a number
of regions
38. 5,500
5,000
Water use (cubic kilometers per year)
Total use
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000 Agricultural use
1,500
Industrial use
1,000
Domestic use
500
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
Year
41. Acute shortage
Serious Water Problems
Shortage
1. Flooding
2. Urban Shortages
Adequate supply
3. Pollution
Metropolitan regions with population
greater than 1 million
43. Wells and Cones of Depression
A cone of depression forms when water is withdrawn from a well.
The cone will grow in depth and circumference, lowering the
water table and making nearby shallow wells go dry.
52. World Water Facts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/4787758.stm
One billion people without access
to clean drinking water
2.6 billion without adequate
sanitation
Rapid urbanization increasing
pressure on water resources
30-40% of water 'lost' through
illegal tapping and leaks
56. What We Can Do
Build Dams and Reservoirs to Store Runoff
Bring in Surface Water from Other Areas
Withdraw Ground Water
Convert Salt Water to Fresh Water
Waste Less Water
Import Food to Reduce Water Use
57.
58. Problems With Privatized Water
They have more incentive to
sell as much water as they
can rather than to conserve it.
The poor will continue to be
left out because of a lack of
money to pay water bills.
59. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF LARGE DAMS AND
RESERVOIRS?
61. Dams Around the World
800,000 dams, total estimate
45,000 large dams
22,000 large dams on the world’s 227 largest
rivers
62. Drainage Basin of Colorado River
IDAHO
WYOMING
Dam
Aqueduct
or canal Salt Lake City Grand Junction
Upper Basin
Denver
Lower Basin
UPPER
BASIN
UTAH
COLORADO
Lake
Powell
Grand Glen
Las Vegas Canyon Canyon
Dam
NEW MEXICO
Boulder City
ARIZONA
CALIFORNIA Albuquerque
Los LOWER
Palm
Ang BASIN
Springs
eles Phoenix 0 100 mi.
San Diego Yuma 0 150 km
Mexicali Tucson
All-American
Gulf of MEXICO
Canal
California
63. Problems w/ River Water Usage from The Colorado
River
Supplies water to some of the driest land in the S.
West.
Legal pacts have legislated more water usage to
U.S. and Mexico than the river can supply
Low water threatens spawning fish
80% is used to irrigate crops and raise cattle
65. Location of the Dam
Beijing
RUSSIA
YELLOW
SEA
MONGOLIA
CHINA
Shanghai
Wunan
Jailing
Yichang
River
Chongquing
Yangtze
CHINA Three River
Reservoir Gorges
EAST
Dam
CHINA
NEPAL SEA
BHUTAN
BANGLADESH
PACIFIC
VIETNAM
INDIA
OCEAN
BURMA LAOS
68. Humans Increase Flood Damage
Removing Water Absorbing Vegetation
Draining Wetlands that Absorb Floodwaters and
Reduce
Living in Flood Plains
69. Oxygen
Protect Forests
released by Diverse
vegetation ecological
habitat
Evapotranspiration
Trees reduce soil
erosion from heavy
rain and wind
Agricultural
land
Steady
river flow
Leaf litter
improves
soil fertility
Tree roots
stabilize soil and
aid water flow Vegetation releases
water slowly and
reduces flooding
Forested Hillside
70. Tree plantation
Evapotranspiration decreases
Roads
destabilize
hillsides
Ranching
accelerates
soil erosion by
water and wind
Winds remove
fragile topsoil
Agriculture land
is flooded and
silted up
Gullies and
landslides
Heavy rain leaches
nutrients from soil
and erodes topsoil Rapid runoff
causes flooding
Silt from erosion blocks
rivers and reservoirs and
causes flooding downstream
After Deforestation
72. Flood Plain Services
Provide Natural Flood and Erosion control
Maintain High Water Quality
Recharge Groundwater
73. Advantages to Living in a Floodplain
Provide Fertile Soil for Farming
Provide Ample Water for Irrigation
Provide Flat Land for Crops, Buildings, Highways
and Railroads
Availability of Nearby Rivers for Transportation
and Recreation
81. Uses of Desalination
Removing dissolved salts from ocean water or
from brackish ground water is called desalination
Methods include distillation
Process is expensive because it takes large
amounts of energy
Produces large quantities of wastewater
84. Cloud Seeding
Not useful in very dry areas were it is mostly
needed
Would introduce large amounts of cloud-seeding
chemical into the water system, possibly harming
people, wildlife and agricultural productivity
Many legal disputes over clouds ownership
between states
86. Reducing Water Waste
65-70% of water use by people is lost through
evaporation
Decrease the burden of wastewater plants
Reduce the need for expensive dams and water transfer
project that destroy wildlife habitats and displace people
Slow depletion of groundwater aquifers
Save energy and money
89. • Redesign manufacturing processes
• Landscape yards with plants that require little water
• Use drip irrigation
• Fix water leaks
• Use water meters and charge for all municipal
water use
• Raise water prices
• Require water conservation in water-short cities
• Use water-saving toilets, showerheads, and front-
loading clothes washers
• Collect and reuse household water to irrigate lawns
and nonedible plants
• Purify and reuse water for houses, apartments, and
office buildings