GREAT MARLOW SCHOOL Geography Department

Water Conflicts

Booklet: Topic outline and past paper exam questions

Lesson Learning objectives and outcomes

Lesson 1What is the Geography of water supply?

.To understand the three factors that govern water supply. To understand the hydrological system.

Lesson 2What is the global picture of “water stress”??

To understand the causes of water stress To map the global pattern of water stress and scarcity

CASE STUDY : Research and Reading – Water Stress in Bolivia and Beijing – Tianjin (China)

Lesson 3

What are the human impacts on water availability?

To understand how human activity affects water availability To analyses the concept of a water poverty index To examine the link between poverty and water poverty. To evaluate the different prices of water around the world

CASE STUDY : Research and Reading – Contrast between Canada and Ethiopia

Lesson 4What are the risks of water insecurity?

To understand the environmental and supply problems that water extraction can cause.

CASE STUDY: Research and Reading - The Aral Sea

Lesson 5What are “water conflicts”?

To investigate three areas of major water conflict from around the world. To understand water geopolitics and evaluate the Helsinki Rules

CASE STUDY: Research and Reading Water conflict and tensions in The Middle East (Geo fact sheet 199), India/ Bangladesh ( Geo fact sheets 84/5) and the Colorado River, USA

Lesson 6

How effective are water transfers in solving water scarcity problems

To understand what water transfers are and how they work To evaluate the effectiveness of water transfer schemes To examine the geo political issues that water transfers raise.

CASE STUDY Research and Reading – Snowy Mountains Scheme, Australia and Water transfers between Turkey and Israel

Lesson 7What is the future for water demand and conflicts?

To understand the possible future trends in water demand? To identify the “players” and decision makers?

CASE STUDY Research and Reading – Water Futures in India (Geo factsheet 276) and The Ebro River, Spain

Lesson 8What is the response to rising demand for water in China

To understand how economic development in China is water dependent. To contrast hard and soft engineering approaches to solving water scarcity problems

CASE STUDY Research and Reading – China – Three gorges project and the North south Transfer project (Geo factsheet 114)

Lesson 9What other technologies are being developed to fight water scarcity?

To evaluate the effectiveness of water conservation schemes for MEDCs and LEDCs To evaluate the effectiveness of water desalination schemes – in MEDCs.

CASE STUDY: Research and Reading - Restoring the Aral Sea

January 2010Water Conflicts.2 Study Figure 2.

(a) Explain how physical and human factors have contributed to the variation in water scarcity shown. (10)

(b) Using named examples, assess the contribution of large scale water management projects in increasing water security. (15)

June 2010Water Conflicts2 Study Figure 2.

(a) Explain how human interference in the water cycle can affect water availability. (10)

(b) Using named examples, assess the potential for water supply to become a source of conflict. (15)

January 2011Water Conflicts1 Study Figure 1.(a) Suggest possible consequences for people and the environment of the projected changes in water withdrawals. (10)

(b) Using examples, assess the role of named players in securing water supplies. (15)

June 2011Water Conflicts2 Study Figure 2.

(a) Suggest reasons for the differences in water consumption for the countries shown. (10)

(b) Using named examples, assess the impact of using trans-boundary water sources on people and the environment. (15)

January 2012Water Conflicts2 Study Figure 2.(a) Suggest reasons for the changes to water supply quality between 1990 and 2008. (10)

(b) Evaluate the consequences, for different players, of an increasing gap between water supply and demand. (15)

June 2012Water Conflicts6 (a) Explain how the physical and political geography of the region is putting water supply at risk. (10)(b) Assess the relative importance of the threats to future water supply within the region. (15)(c) Evaluate the contribution water management schemes, such as those shown in Figure 11, might make towards a sustainable water future for the region. (15)

January 2013Water Conflicts1 Study Figure 1.(a) Using Figure 1, explain the contribution that the players make to ensure safe and secure water supplies for all. (10)

(b) Using named examples, assess the extent to which conflict over water supplies is inevitable. (15)

June 2013Water Conflicts2 Study Figure 2.

(a) Using Figure 2 and your own knowledge, suggest the physical and human factors that might help to explain the global pattern of water stress. (10)

(b) Using named examples, assess the advantages and disadvantages of contrasting technologies to secure water supplies in developing countries. (15)

June 2014Water Conflicts2 Study Figure 2.(a) Using Figure 2, explain how physical factors influence water availability in areas A and B. (10)

(b) Using named examples, discuss how both economic development and environmental concerns influence water demand. (15)