Environmental Science 1021F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: James Bay Project, Saltwater Intrusion, Water Scarcity
20 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Water scarcity: too little water the 4 d"s: dry climate, drought. Precipitation 70% lower & evaporation is higher than norm. No more vegetation= less precipitation: demand. Water stress result of water scarcity. But from lack of infrastructure/money makes it hard to distribute resources amongst population. Physical water scarcity: water is physically not there. How do we increase available freshwater supplies: store it - dams and reservoirs. Provides water for year-round irrigation of cropland. Flooded above land destroys land and cropland and displaces people. Migration and spawning of some fish are disrupted. Downstream cropland and estuaries are deprived of nutrient rich soil. Erosion downstream + sediment buildup upstream: transport it. No evaporation loss because it is in ground. Subsidence when an aquifer collapses on itself Saltwater intrusion: desalination convert salt water to fresh water. Desalination remove salt from ocean or brackish water < mixture of fresh and salt water: distillation, boiling water, allowing water to evaporate vapour.
