Sustainable Management of

Water Resources

 

By

 

Ali Tarshawi

 

 Department of Environment and

Earth Science

 The Islamic University- Gaza

 

 2012

 

 

Sustainable Management of Water Resources

 

 

·      Earth’s Water

 

·      Water Availability and Use

 

·      Fresh Water Shortages

 

·      Increasing Supplies

 

·      Water Management and Conservation

 

·      A sustainable Water Future

 

     

 Earth’s Water

 

·      Quantities

–        The total amount of water on our plant is more than

    1460 million cubic kilometers.

–        If earth had a perfectly smooth surface, an ocean about

  3 Km deep would cover every thing.

–        Earth is unique in having an atmosphere:

·       To trap water vapor and

·       Temperature range that keeps most of water liquid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·      The Planet Water Budget

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hydrologic cycle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·      The importance of water

FWater is the primary component of cells and makes up 60-70 % of the weight of living organisms.

FWater is the medium in which all of life’s chemical reactions occur.

F Water is the only inorganic liquid that exists in nature and is the solvent in which most substances must be dissolved before cells can absorb.

FWater molecules themselves can ionize, breaking into (H+) and (OH -) ions assist in maintaining the acid base balance in cells.

FWater helps protect cells from temperature fluctuations because it has a high heat capacity.

 

 

 

 

 

Water Availability and Use

 

Definitions:

F Withdrawal: Is the total amount of water taken from a lake, river, or aquifer for any purpose.

F Consumption: Is the fraction of withdrawn water that is lost in transmission, evaporation, absorption,etc.

F Degradation: Is a change in water quality due to contamination or pollution so that it is unsuitable for other desirable service.

 

 

 

 

 

Quantities of Water Used

F The average amount of water withdrawn worldwide is about 800 cu m per person per year.

F There are great differences :

I Canada, for instance, withdraws less than one percent of its annual runoff.

IBy contrast, in countries such as Palestine, Malta and Oman, withdraws about 100 percent .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use by Sector

How Do We Use the World’s Fresh Water?

F Three major kinds of use (Sectors): Domestic (8%), industry (23%), and agriculture (69%).

 

 

 

 

 

The Problem A

 Fresh Water Shortages

(A Scarce Resource)

F Water is a major limiting factor of the environment.

F (Increasing Pressure on Water Resources)

 

? What causes freshwater shortages?

FRising demand

Our growing world population is placing great demands upon natural freshwater resources

 

FUnequal distribution of usable                        freshwater, (Canada/Palestine Ex.).

 

FIncreasing pollution of existing water supplies, (Human activities).

 

 

Indicators

¿ Half of the world’s population do not have an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

¿ 80% of the diseases that affect people in the poorest countries are caused by polluted water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Increasing Supplies

? How can water supplies be increased?

? There are several ways to increase local supplies

J Desalination

J Seeding clouds and towing icebergs

J Dams, Reservoirs and Canals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Useful Is Desalination?

K About 7,500 desalination plants in 120 countries provide about 0.1 % of the freshwater used by humans.(Destalation,and Reverse Osmoses).

 

?Water produce in this way costs three to five times more than from conventional sources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Can Cloud Seeding and Towing Icebergs improve water supplies?

?The technology for doing this is not available, and the costs may be too high, especially for water short developing countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dams, Reservoirs and Channels

It is possible to trap runoff with dams and storage reservoirs and transfer water from ares of excess to areas of deficit using canal, tunnel and underground pipes.

 ?Although such transfer have benefits, they also create environmental problems.

 

 

Water Management And Conservation

Watershed Management

Using Water more efficiently

Domestic Conservation

Price Mechanism

Industrial and Agricultural Conservation

 

 

Watershed Management

These areas should be reserved for water storage, aquifer recharge, wildlife habitat and agriculture.

 

 

?Sound farming ?Forestry practices ?Minimizing plowing and forest cutting ?Wetlands conservation. ?Series of small dams on streams.

 

v   Reduce runoff. v   Reduce flooding. v   Protect watershed. v   Increase water storage capacity. v   Preserves aquifer recharge zones.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Using Water More Efficiently

Why is reducing water waste so important?

?                       The world resources institute estimate That

           65-70% of the water people use through out the world is wasted through:

vEvaporation

vLeaks (Cairo, Mexico city, and Jakarta > 50%).

vOther losses.

?                       It is economically and technically feasible to reduce water waste to 15%, thereby meeting most of the world’s water needs for the foreseeable future.

?                       Conserving water would have many other benefits.

 

 

 

 

 

Domestic Conservation

We could save as much as half of the water we now use for domestic purposes without great specific or serious changes in our life-styles

Industrial and Agricultural Conservation

?                       Industry

Manufacturing processes can use:

1.   Recycled water or

2.   Be redesigned to save water

Ex. new paper will uses one-tenth as much water as most other paper mills.

 

?     Agriculture and Irrigation

F Irrigation accounts for 65% of the world’s water use.

F Because only about 40% of this water reaches crops:

 

IMore efficient use of irrigation water would free large amounts of water for other uses.

 

K  Carefully treated urban wastewater could be used for irrigation.

 

 

Page 507  2
Price Mechanisms

*Price Mechanisms may give out the false message that water is abundant and can afford to be wasted .

There are many policies in this field according to the water situation of the country.

K Unreasonably low price of water.

K The real cost for (Environment damage,Future use,etc.)

K Allowing the market to determine a price for water.

A sustainable Water Future

?      By 2025 at least 3 billion people could be living in countries experiencing from chronic water shortages, ecological, degradation, and loss of biodiversity.

 

?      There is little time to try to prevent such tragedy.

 

ÚAn effective strategy for the sustainable use of water involves:

§       Preserving the ecological integrity of water supply systems.

§       Wasting less water.

§       Allowing fair access to water supply (equity) (participatory decision making)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

?      Sustainable water use is based on commonsense principle stated in an old saying “the frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives”

Working together to share limited resources to avoid armed conflicts and escalating depletion and degradation of the available water.

 

 

?Sustainable water use also requires an integrated plan governing water use, sewage treatment, and water pollution to protect ecological functions.

 

?Developing and implementation sustainable water strategies for the world major water basins and ground water supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sustainable Management of

Water Resources

 

By

 

Ali Tarshawi

 

 Department of Environment and

Earth Science

 The Islamic University- Gaza

 

June, 2003

 

 

Sustainable Development of Water Resources

 

·      Sustainable Development Concepts

 

·      Earth’s Water

 

·      Water Availability and Use

 

·      Fresh Water Shortages

 

·      Increasing Supplies

 

·      Water Management and Conservation

 

 

Sustainable Development Concepts

 

On one hand Steady-State economic system that will minimize our impact on the environment

On the other hand Economic growth is necessary to provide the funds to clean up the environment

An inter mediate position between these two extremes of NO growth versus Unlimited growth is sustainable development based on use of renewable resources in harmony with ecological systems

Other definition Sustainable development is the optimal management.   It has four dimensions Human, Environment, Economic and Technology

 

 

 

Earth’s Water

 

 

·      Quantities

–        The total amount of water on our plant is more than 1460 million cubic kilometers.

–        If earth had a perfectly smooth surface, an ocean about 3 Km deep would cover every thing.

–        Earth is unique in having an atmosphere to trap water vapor and a temperature range that keeps most of it liquid.

 

·      Major water compartments of the world

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·      The hydrologic cycle

 

 

·      The importance of water

–        Water is the primary component of cells and makes up 60-70 % of the weight of living organisms.

–        Water is the medium in which all of life’s chemical reactions occur.

–         Water is the only inorganic liquid that exists in nature and is the solvent in which most substances must be dissolved before cells can absorb.

–        Water molecules themselves can ionize, breaking into (H⁺) and (OH ^–) ions assist in maintaining the acid base balance in cells.

–        Water helps protect cells from temperature fluctuations because it has a high heat capacity.

 

 

 

Water Availability and Use

How Do We Use the World’s Fresh Water?

 

Definitions:

F Withdrawal: Is the total amount of water taken from a lake, river, or aquifer for any purpose.

F Consumption: Is the fraction of withdrawn water that is lost in transmission, evaporation, absorption, chemical transformation, or otherwise made unavailable for other purposes as a result of human use.

F Degradation: Is a change in water quality due to contamination or pollution so that it is unsuitable for other desirable service.

 

 

 

 

Quantities of Water Used

F The average amount of water withdrawn worldwide is about 800 cu m per person per year.

F As you might expect, those countries with a plentiful water supply and a small population withdraw a very small percentage of the water available to them.

 

I Canada, for instance, withdraws less than one percent of its annual runoff.

By contrast, in countries such as Palestine, Malta and Oman, where water is one of the most crucial environmental resources, groundwater and surface water withdrawal together amount to almost 100 percent of the total annual runoff.

 

Use by Sector

F Three major kinds of use (Sectors): Domestic (8%), industry (23%), and agriculture (69%).

F There are great variations in water use by different sectors in different areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Problem A

I Fresh Water Shortages

       (A Scarce Resource)

F Water is a major limiting factor of the environment.

F Our growing world population is placing great demands upon natural freshwater resources

(Increasing Pressure on Water Resources)

 

? What causes freshwater shortages?

M Rising demand

M Unequal distribution of usable                      freshwater, (Canada/Malta Ex.).

M Increasing pollution of existing water supplies, (Human activities).

 

 

 

Indicators

¿ Nearly half of the world’s population do not have an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

¿ It has been estimated that as much as 80% of the diseases that affect people in the poorest countries of the world are caused by contaminated water supplies lake of sanitation.

 

Increasing Supplies

? On a human time scale, the amount of water on earth is fixed.

? How can water supplies be increased?

? There are several ways to increase local supplies (Proposals)

J Desalination

J Seeding clouds and towing icebergs

J Dams, Reservoirs and Canals

 

Desalination

F The removal of dissolved salts from ocean water or from brackish (Slightly Salty) groundwater.

F it is another way to increase freshwater supplies.

Desalination and Reverse Osmoses `are the two most widely used methods.

 

Desalination, involves heating salt water until it evaporates and condenses as freshwater. Leaving salts behind in solid form.

Reverse Osmoses, salt water is pumped at high pressure through a thin membrane whose pores allow water molecules to pass through.

 

K About 7,500 desalination plants in 120 countries provide about 0.1 % of the freshwater used by humans. If a cheap source of energy is available.

 

Cloud Seeding and Towing Icebergs

For years several countries, particularly the United States, have been experimenting with seeding clouds with tiny particles of chemicals (Silver Iodide) to form water condensation nuclei and thus produce more rain over dry regions and more snow over Mounties.

Cloud seeding is not useful in very dry areas because rain clouds are rarely available there.

There also have been proposals to tow massive icebergs to arid coastal areas (such as Saudi Arabia). However, the technology for doing this is not available, and the costs may be too high, especially for water short developing countries.

 

 

 

 

Dams, Reservoirs and Channels

People have been moving water around for thousands of years. Some of the great civilizations (Sumeria, Egypt, China, and the Inca culture of South America) were based on large-scale irrigation systems that brought river water to farms fields. Roman aqueducts built two thousand years ago are still in use. Those early water engineers probably never even dreamed of moving water on a scale that is being proposed and, in some cases, being accomplished now.

It is possible to trap runoff with dams and storage reservoirs and transfer water from ares of excess to areas of deficit using canal, tunnel and underground pipes.

 

 

 

Water Management And Conservation

Watershed Management

Using Water more efficiency

Domestic Conservation

Price Mechanism

Industrial and Agricultural Conservation

 

 

Watershed Management

These areas should be reserved for water storage, aquifer recharge, wildlife habitat and agriculture.

 

 

?Sound farming ?Forestry practices ?Minimizing plowing and forest cutting ?Wetlands conservation. ?Series of small dams on streams.

 

v   Reduce runoff. v   Reduce flooding. v   Protect watershed. v   Increase water storage capacity. v   Preserves aquifer recharge zones.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Using Water More Efficiently

Why is reducing water waste so important?

?                       The world resources institute estimate That 65-70% of the water people use through out the world is wasted through:

vEvaporation

vLeaks (Cairo, Mexico city, and Jakarta > 50%).

vOther losses.

?                       It is economically and technically feasible to reduce water waste to 15%, thereby meeting most of the world’s water needs for the foreseeable future.

?                       Conserving water would have many other benefits.

 

 

 

 

 

Domestic Conservation

We could save as much as half of the water we now use for domestic purposes without great specific or serious changes in our life-styles

Industrial and Agricultural Conservation

?                       Industry

Manufacturing processes can use:

1.   Recycled water or

2.   Be redesigned to save water

Ex. new paper will uses one-tenth as much water as most other paper mills.

 

?     Agriculture and Irrigation

F Irrigation accounts for 65% of the world’s water use.

F Because only about 40% of this water reaches crops:

 

IMore efficient use of even a small amount of irrigation water would free large amounts of water for other uses.

 

K  Carefully treated urban wastewater could be used for irrigation.

Price Mechanisms

There are many policies in this field according to the water situation of the country.

K Unreasonably low price of water.

K The real cost for (Environment damage,Future use,etc.)

K Allowing the market to determine a price for water.

A sustainable Water Future

?      By 2025 at least 3 billion people could be living in countries experiencing from chronic water shortages, ecological, degradation, and loss of biodiversity.

 

?      There is little time to try to prevent such tragedy.

 

ÚAn effective strategy for the sustainable use of water involves:

§       Preserving the ecological integrity of water supply systems.

§       Wasting less water.

§       Allowing fair access to water supply (equity) (participatory decision making)

 

?      Sustainable water use is based on commonsense principle stated in an old saying “the frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives”

?Working together to share limited resources to avoid armed conflicts and escalating depletion and degradation of the available water.

 

 

?Sustainable water use also requires an integrated plan governing water use, sewage treatment, and water pollution to protect ecological functions

 

?Developing and implementation sustainable water strategies for the world major water basins and ground water supplies.

 

 

 

 

Sustainable Management of

Water Resources

 

By

 

Ali Tarshawi

 

 Department of Environment and

Earth Science

 The Islamic University- Gaza

 

June. 2003

 

 

Sustainable Management of Water Resources

 

 

·      Earth’s Water

 

·      Water Availability and Use

 

·      Fresh Water Shortages

 

·      Increasing Supplies

 

·      Water Management and Conservation

 

·      A sustainable Water Future

 

     

 

Earth’s Water

 

·      Quantities

 

–        The total amount of water on our plant is more than

    1460 million cubic kilometers.

–        If earth had a perfectly smooth surface, an ocean about

  3 Km deep would cover every thing.

–        Earth is unique in having an atmosphere:

·       To trap water vapor and

·       Temperature range that keeps most of water liquid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·      The Planet Water Budget

 

P 491   2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hydrologic cycle

 

P 121  2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·      The Importance of Water

FWater is the primary component of cells and makes up 60-70 % of the weight of living organisms.

FWater is the medium in which all of life’s chemical reactions occur.

F Water is the only inorganic liquid that exists in nature and is the solvent in which most substances must be dissolved before cells can absorb.

FWater molecules themselves can ionize, breaking into (H+) and (OH -) ions assist in maintaining the acid base balance in cells.

FWater helps protect cells from temperature fluctuations because it has a high heat capacity.

 

 

 

Water Availability and Use

 

Definitions:

F Withdrawal: Is the total amount of water taken from a lake, river, or aquifer for any purpose.

F Consumption: Is the fraction of withdrawn water that is lost in transmission, evaporation, absorption,etc.

F Degradation: Is a change in water quality due to contamination or pollution so that it is unsuitable for other desirable service.

 

 

 

 

 

Quantities of Water Used

F The average amount of water withdrawn worldwide is about 800 cu m per person per year.

F There are great differences :

I Canada, for instance, withdraws less than one percent of its annual runoff.

IBy contrast, in countries such as Palestine, Malta and Oman, withdraws about 100 percent .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use by Sector

How Do We Use the World’s Fresh Water?

F Three major kinds of use (Sectors): Domestic (8%), industry (23%), and agriculture (69%).

 

P493  2

 

 

 

 

The Problem A

 Fresh Water Shortages

(A Scarce Resource)

F Water is a major limiting factor of the environment.

F (Increasing Pressure on Water Resources)

 

? What causes freshwater shortages?

FRising demand

Our growing world population is placing great demands upon natural freshwater resources

 

FUnequal distribution of usable                        freshwater, (Canada/Palestine Ex.).

 

FIncreasing pollution of existing water supplies, (Human activities).

 

 

Indicators

¿ Half of the world’s population do not have an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

¿ 80% of the diseases that affect people in the poorest countries are caused by polluted water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Increasing Supplies

? How can water supplies be increased?

? There are several ways to increase local supplies

J Desalination

J Seeding clouds and towing icebergs

J Dams, Reservoirs and Canals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Useful Is Desalination?

K About 7,500 desalination plants in 120 countries provide about 0.1 % of the freshwater used by humans.(Destalation,and Reverse Osmoses).

 

?Water produce in this way costs three to five times more than from conventional sources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Can Cloud Seeding and Towing Icebergs improve water supplies?

?The technology for doing this is not available, and the costs may be too high, especially for water short developing countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dams, Reservoirs and Channels

It is possible to trap runoff with dams and storage reservoirs and transfer water from ares of excess to areas of deficit using canal, tunnel and underground pipes.

 ?Although such transfer have benefits, they also create environmental problems.

 

 

Water Management And Conservation

Watershed Management

Using Water more efficiently

Domestic Conservation

Price Mechanism

Industrial and Agricultural Conservation