Water Scarcity Basics
This term describes a situation where there is not enough available water to meet people's needs.
What is water scarcity?
A long period of unusually low rainfall is known as this.
What is a drought?
This capital city relies on several different water sources because of its relatively dry climate.
What is Perth?
This process removes salt from seawater to make freshwater.
What is desalination?
Water scarcity is not distributed evenly across Earth. Geographers describe this as a difference in this concept.
What is spatial distribution?
This type of water scarcity occurs when there physically is not enough water available in an area.
What is physical water scarcity?
This global process can change rainfall patterns and increase evaporation.
What is climate change?
Perth traditionally relied heavily on water stored below the ground in these natural formations.
What are aquifers/groundwater?
Using treated wastewater again rather than disposing of it is known as this.
What is water recycling?
Two places receive the same rainfall, but one has far more people. This place is likely to experience greater water scarcity because of higher this.
What is demand?
Water may be available, but people cannot access it because of poor infrastructure or lack of money. This is called this type of scarcity.
What is economic water scarcity?
Farming is one of the world's largest users of freshwater, particularly through this practice of supplying water to crops.
What is irrigation?
Declining winter rainfall in south-west WA has reduced water flowing into these structures.
What are dams/reservoirs?
Fixing leaking pipes helps manage water scarcity by reducing this.
What is water loss/wastage?
Farmers, households and industry competing for a limited water supply demonstrates that water scarcity involves both environmental and these factors.
What are human factors?
Population growth can increase water scarcity because it increases this.
What is demand for water?
When groundwater is removed faster than it can naturally refill, this is occurring.
What is groundwater depletion/over-extraction?
Perth has increasingly used desalination partly because rainfall-dependent water sources have become less this.
What is reliable?
Give one disadvantage of desalination despite it providing a reliable water supply.
What is high energy use, cost or environmental impact?
A map shows rainfall decreasing from Australia's north-east towards its interior. Identify the geographical pattern.
What is rainfall generally decreasing towards the interior?
Explain why a country receiving reasonable rainfall could still experience water scarcity.
What is uneven rainfall, poor infrastructure, pollution, population growth or poor water management?
A city experiences declining rainfall while its population grows rapidly. Explain why these two factors together create a greater water-scarcity problem.
What is decreasing supply occurring at the same time as increasing demand?
Explain why Perth using several water sources instead of relying mainly on dams can improve its water security.
What is diversification reducing reliance on a single water source?
Which is likely to create better long-term water security: building one very large water source or combining conservation, recycling, groundwater and desalination? Explain.
What is combining multiple strategies because it reduces reliance on one source and improves resilience?
Explain why water scarcity should not simply be described as "a lack of rainfall."
What is water scarcity also depending on population, demand, infrastructure, water quality, accessibility and management?