Water deficit

1. Water deficit

2. Water deficit is where an area does not have enough water to meet demand. Reasons for this could include: Low rainfall Lack of water storage High levels of evaporation High population, so high demand Lots of industry, e.g. agriculture so high demand Water deficit Click to continue

3. Drought is where an area receives less rainfall than normal over a long period. What are the effects of drought? • Effects in richer countries • There are hosepipe bans. • Public fountains are turned off. • Private swimming pools, e.g. in hotels, are closed. • There are fines for illegal water use. • Water supply to homes is stopped and water tankers are provided for streets. • There is some damage to ecosystems, e.g. ponds. • Effects in poorer countries • Animals die. • Plants including crops and trees die. • People are forced to drink contaminated water supplies. • People suffer ill health due to dehydration. • Land turns to desert and erosion increases. Click to continue

4. Question: Explain how drought might affect the quality of life for people living in an LEDC. (5 marks) How does drought affect quality of life? • Effects in poorer countries • Animals die. • Plants including crops and trees die. • People are forced to drink contaminated water supplies. • People suffer ill health due to dehydration. • Land turns to desert and erosion increases. These are the effects. How would they affect the quality of life of people? Click to continue

5. How does drought affect quality of life? so people lose a supply of food and might suffer malnutrition so people have less firewood for fuel so can’t cook food or heat water and can become ill so they become ill and can’t work so they lose income so they can’t work and have to spend money on medicine so farmers can’t grow crops so they lose income and can’t afford food and medicine Click to continue

6. What problems does drought cause? Question: Complete the table below to explain how drought can cause problems for a country’s government. (4 marks) Exam tip: This question is different from the previous question because it is not about the impacts on individuals. Click to continue

7. Problems caused by drought so less income is made for the country from exports so the government receives less tax and has less money to spend on providing services so this is expensive and the government has less money to spend on providing or improving the country’s infrastructure so pressure on hospitals and more money is spent by the government Click to continue

8. Complete the diagram to show any methods you have studied that people can use to manage drought. Managing drought Click to continue

9. Managing drought Click to continue

10. Use the diagram to explain how the different methods would help to reduce drought. Reducing problems of drought Click to continue

11. Reducing problems of drought so that there will be a supply of food for people and to sell so that there is an increased store of water and increased transpiration to create rainfall. This binds the soil together, so water can infiltrate the ground. It also creates shade so there is less evaporation so that water doesn’t just run off into rivers — it can be stored for use such as drinking water or watering crops because this reduces surface runoff and increases infiltration, so it builds up under ground as a store of water that can be accessed by wells so that water can be stored instead of running into rivers. The cover reduces evaporation Click to continue