Section 1: Fresh Water: Scarcity or Surfeit?

Summary and Overview

We begin this course by providing an outline of water resources on a global basis—where resources are abundant or limited and why. We first ask questions regarding the "value" of water and consider whether having access to fresh (uncontaminated) water for drinking and other household uses is a fundamental right as opposed to water being a commodity subject to profit-taking. We are concerned with projected population growth, its regional distribution, and resulting demands for water in the future. This helps us appreciate the two-way relationship between water and human society: how water availability and quality affect economic opportunities and human well-being, and how human activity affects water resources.

A major consideration is why some regions have a surplus of water and others have less than necessary to support local populations in various activities. In order to understand this, we examine the operation of Earth's climate system in some detail. This involves discussion of the global "hydrologic cycle" that reflects the cycling of water from ocean to atmosphere to land and its ultimate return to the sea. We also outline some of the important properties of water that determine its behavior in the climate system, flowing water, and sustaining life.

Strengths of the Section

• It is perhaps unsurprising that water allocation and policy lie at the heart of economic and political tensions between communities, states, and nations. As populations in many water-stressed areas continue to grow, and in the face of climate changes that affect where and when water may be available in the future, these challenges continue to mount. Students will study examples of these challenges.
• Water is a resource that is subject to privatizations and price fluctuations, but should water be provided by benevolent governments at reasonable cost? We are concerned with projected population growth, its regional distribution, and resulting demands for water in the future. This helps us appreciate the two-way relationship between water and human society: how water availability and quality affect economic opportunities and human well-being, and how human activity affects water resources.
• This section examines the operation of Earth's climate system in some detail: the roles of global wind systems, proximity to an ocean, and topographic features (especially mountain belts) in determining patterns of rainfall, a first-order control on water availability. This involves discussion of the global "hydrologic cycle" that reflects the cycling of water from ocean to atmosphere to land and its ultimate return to the sea, and uses large geoscience data sets to do so.
• Systems thinking is integral to the modules in this section. Students will examine simple models of Earth's surface hydrologic system and learn the importance of mass-balance considerations.
  

Context

Learning Goals

Upon completion of Section 1 students will be able to:

• describe the two-way relationship between water resources and human society;
• explain the distribution and dynamics of water at the surface and in the subsurface of Earth;
• interpret graphical representations of scientific data;
• identify strategies and best practices to decrease water stress and increase water quality;
• communicate scientific information in terms that can be understood by the general public;
• predict how availability of and demand for water resources is expected to change over the next 50 years.

Section Outline

• Module 1: Freshwater Resources – A Global Perspective
• Module 2: Climatology of Water

Assessment