Economic Growth and Water

A2 Geography

Water Demand

• Many countries experiencing rapid economic growth have a large demand for water

China is changing

• As China grows the farmers are expected to feed the growing numbers

• Urbanisation growth increases localised demand

• China has become a net food importer and so world prices have risen

Farming to Industry

• As it grows China is turning farmland over to industry even the best southern regions

• This means the north must grow more food

• The north gets less precipitation than the south

• Farmers have to fight for water with industry and domestic taking precedence

• Ground water supplies are dwindling.• An estimated 300 cities faced water

shortages in 2008

Growth increases Demand

• Water economics are basic:• The same amount of water that makes a

farmer $200 will make Industry a staggering $14,000 – Jobs are better paid.

• By producing more goods they have more to consume

• Increase in population drives economic growth higher and so water consumption grows

Impacts

• Many rivers dry up• Pollution

Impacts in China• 80% of rivers no

longer support fish

• Yellow River contains so much toxic waste and heavy metals that the poisons are entering human food chain

• Arsenic, lead , cadmium and Chromium have all been found in rice and vegetables grown using river water

• Farmers are drilling deeper for ground water with the result many rivers have dried up

• Yellow River (2nd biggest in China) now only flows 165 days of the year

• Northern cities are industrialising at the expense of more water sources

• The Yangtze could be ecologically dead by 2010

• 185 cities will no longer depend on safe water incl. Shanghai

Dry North - Shijiazhuang• Water table has fallen

1.5m a year now 200m deep

• Pop’n grown from 300,000 in 1950 – 2.3m

• GDP growing at 10% a year

• Water available per person is 3% of world average

• Farmers losing to industry and urban demand which are growing 8 times faster that agricultural demand

Poisoned South – Yangtze River

• 23.4 bn tonnes of industrial waste dumped each year

• 1500 tones agricultural chemicals

• 4.6 tonnes of arsenic flow to the coast every day – feeding the blue green algae

• Shipping 25% of world’s container traffic enters river

• Lack of industrial accidents records

• Low environmental regulations permit 90% of all discharges to be untreated (2006)

Three Gorges Dam - Activity

• Read the Information on the sheets provided and complete the Cost benefit analysis –

• Jot down whether or not the dam will help solve some of the problems faced by China.

• Are dams a good thing?