Water and Hydrology Flashcards
(16 cards)
Modern hydrology is concerned with
the distribution of water on the surface of the earth and its movement over and beneath the surface and through the atmosphere
Water is prominent because it is linked to: (4)
Famine
Drought
Flood
Crisis
Breakdown of Fresh Water stores
68.7 % Glaciers and Ice Caps
30.1% Groundwater
.3% Surface Water (87% lakes, 11% swamps, 2% rivers)
.9% Other
Three States of Water availability
Physical Abundance
Physical Scarcity
Economic Scarcity
Footprints are:
accounting tools used to estimate resource consumption and waste assimilation requirements e.g. Ecological, Carbon, water (virtual water)
Ecological footprint
Human demand on the environment is measured as land area required for the production of food and other goods, together with the absorption of wastes, units in hectares
World average ecological footprint:
2.6 ha per person, leaving a .8 deficit
Three types of virtual water used in production:
Green water, rainwater evaporated
Blue water, surface or groundwater extracted
Grey Water, polluted water
Pre and post-industrial levels of water consumption:
2.5 m3 to 4m3
Conclusions of the World Bank report (2012) on floods:
becoming more dangerous because of the amount of the population exposed, staggering economic losses recently, largest and most widespread risk to cities globally
To predict runoff we need to know: (4)
rainfall, evaporation, storage, and catchment characteristics
Water Balance Equation
Precipitation +- Evaporation +- change storage +-runoff =0
Components of water ‘purity’ (4)
chemical, ecological, cultural, sensory
Progress in water quality demands advances in (3)
science of exposure and effects
science of measurement
science of governance
Three Engineered Urban Waters:
Storm
Potable
Waste
Effects of flood on habitat: (4)
erosion / bank scour
removal of woody debris
decline in habitat
decline in base flow
