Feasibility of Various Techniques of Providing Fresh Water Essay

Feasibility of Various Techniques of Providing Fresh Water Accessibility in Arid Regions - Essay Example However it is now estimated that by the year 2025, 3.4 billion people would be having to deal with chronic water shortage (Calzolaio 5). And if that happens, the global community is going to witness great fighting over control of water resources unlike ever before, though water resource-related conflict has a marked history going back to medieval times (Gleick 105). Hence the focus must now shift towards addressing the causes and remedies of the fresh water availability issue. The unfortunate fact is that the need for conservation and preservation of water is present mainly in the underdeveloped regions of the world, not only because raising awareness about the problem among illiterate populations is hard but also because these areas are densely populated and require establishment of water sources in very high concentrations. Environmental factors continue to play their role in exacerbating the problem. For instance global warming is having a profound impact on the average temperatur e of the earth’s water body causing it to be more prone to evaporation and speeding up the transfer of fresh water into sea water (Vorosmarty et al., 284). Anyhow, the society must continue to look for solutions; and to continue the march towards civic sustainability. It is encouraging that in the last decade there has been many an information drive towards raising awareness among the general public about the issue of water conservation. Water management is going up the stairs of multi-national political agendas as well. Water management is the exploration of strategies for improving the quality and quantity of utilizable water while minimizing potential negative impacts on human health and environment (Drechsel et al., 14). 2. Water Situation in Arid Regions Aridity of a land implies perennial scantiness of rainfall and scarcity of inland surface water. Most of the severely arid regions of the world are found in close proximity to the line of equator. Arid and semi-arid area s comprise about thirty percent of the total land area of the earth (Joana Rosado & Maria M. Morais, 8). While it was known that mainly deserts and semi-arid areas would bear the brunt of the dip in global water security, it was not anticipated that the impact would be this great (UNEP 66). The urban centres fare relatively well in arid regions; it is the rural areas that are hit the hardest. Often availability of safe drinking water becomes a problem in rural areas because the water supply in these areas is heavily dependent upon natural availability of fresh water unlike urban centres which have public water supply mechanisms (Hauschild & Doll). Thankfully late advancement in technology has provided for effective management of fresh water supply in arid regions, diminishing dependence on natural sources by employing various water management practices such as water reuse, rainwater harvesting, enhanced groundwater recharge and inter-basin transferring etc. 3. Inter-basin Transfer T he practice of forced flow of water from one basin to another is at least a century old. It has often been done for political reasons but now there is impetus for transferring water for civic purposes. The impetus is recent development of cheap methods of moving the water. This way inland water from a region of high availability can be moved to a region of shortage. The viability of this method has been proven by its use in long-distance schemes in different areas, most notably in the recently constructed Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna system