Water Scarcity in Australia Observation‐Modeling Framework

Question: Discuss about the Water Scarcity in Australia for Observationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Modeling Framework. Answer: Introduction Australia is the sixth largest nation with least population density. This country is enriched with several resources, for example, mineral resources like coal, gold, natural gas; uranium; aluminium core etc. Australia has vast marine biodiversity. This country has most complex living coral system (Woodward et al. 2012). However, the country faces problem of scarcity. Scarcity is the major economic issue that arises due to unlimited human wants for the resources. When productivity is too high then resources become insufficient to fulfil the human needs, then that particular resource becomes scarce. Water is another valuable resource that is used for drinking and household purpose, along with its huge spending as an input to the industry and agriculture. This resource is becoming scarce, that has become significant problem for many countries. International Water Management Institution, a major portion of world is going to face physical and economic water scarcity by the year 2025. Aust ralia has abundance of water in the tropical north as the population is less in that region. This resource is scarce in the temperate south, as it is more populated region. In this paper, the scarcity of water resources in Australia will be discussed. It will also discuss how this problem scarcity can be overcome. Water Scarcity in Australia It was thought that water is free resource in Australia. However, drought and water restrictions increasingly indicates the adverse impact of increased use of this resource on river. The water resource in Australia is variable due to the range of climatic conditions and topography over the nation (Kummu et al. 2014). The development of water resources is also regulated by rivers and grounded water resources. Too much water out of rivers and groundwater is detrimental to the economy and on environment as well. Lack of water can cause decline in the plant population and native animal and reduction in the agricultural production. More than 65% of runoff is located in the northern region of the country that is sparsely populated, whereas, most of the urban cities are located in the Murray Darling Basin of southern region, with only 6.1% national runoffs. Therefore, the water resource is sufficient in this nation but are in pristine condition (ABC News 2010). The major agricultural activities are concentrated in the areas where this resource is limited. The water volume is determined by the rainfall that affect the runoff and the supply of ground water. In Australia rainfall is variable and many regions of this nation has experienced prolonged drought (Loon and Lahen 2013). The growing population of this nation is also creating pressure on water sources. The water for human use are secured in dams and underground storage (aquifers). However, these kind of storage disrupts the environmental activity. Australias biodiversity will be affected as this storage can affect the downstream of flora and fauna. Water used as drinking purpose or household purpose constitute only 11% of total water consumption. However, most of the water consumption takes place in the agricultural and industrial sector. Agricultural sector brings major portion of profit to the nation, and most of the irrigation takes place in the Murray Darling Basin. Here the water extractions for irrigation is unsustainable (Water.worldbank.org 2011). Moreover, the region faces low rate of rainfall and the high extraction and high storage damage the health of river. Overcoming the Water Scarcity Water is such kind of resource that has no substitute. However, the water is a renewable resource. Due to hydrologic cycle, the water evaporates from oceans and river into the air and falls as rain or snow. Therefore, the amount of rain; rate of evaporation; filled rivers together determines the availability of water. Due to growing industries; growing population and irrigational activity, the demand for water is tremendously high in this country. The Water supply service of Australia is operated by the state governments of respective states. The state governments allow the use of water for variety of purposes, like mining; cultivation or servicing urban and rural region and so on. However, presently, the need for healthy function of natural resources has been felt. The supplier of water thus imposed water pricing. It started to regulate the allocation of water and maintaining the quality of water. Different reforms have taken place in the water service sector of Australia. An initia tive of the living Murray aimed at returning 500 GL water to the river to balance the environment (Reid et al. 2013). The government of this nation has recognized the need for continuous increase in productivity and efficiently use of water. As the water scarcity of this country has evolved because of failure of the management to apply whole-system thinking of water supply. Technical innovation in this industry includes wide range of probability for utilizing more effective and cheaper ways to reuse the waste and saline water. The leak detection system for urban and irrigation transportation system has also improved. The technological innovation encompassed the desalination of water by using solar energy. The use of dams is now limited and the urban communities of this country understand the need for efficient use of water. Recycling of water has been improved. Emphasis has been given on growing more foods with less use of water. Shifting the water use can be possible by trading the high value crops than low value crops (Qureshi, Hanjra and Ward 2013). This will increase the water productivity effectively. In many cities, the state government has allowed the private companies to create more water. The private firms use their advance technology and distribution channel of the state government in order to supply the water over the region (Parker and Tsur 2012). It is believed that the opening up of water supply service to the private firm will improve efficiency in this sector. This will be able to create more water and the problem of water scarcity in this country can be eliminated over time. Conclusion The paper has chosen water as scarce resource in Australia. It has discussed what has been happening with this resource in Australia. It has identified some causes and effects of water scarcity in this region. It has also discussed some of the changes taken place in this sector to reduce the problem of water shortage. References ABC News. (2010). Water shortage threatens big Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-04-06/water-shortage-threatens-big-australia/2584556 [Accessed 29 Aug. 2016]. Kummu, M., Gerten, D., Heinke, J., Konzmann, M. and Varis, O., 2014. Climate-driven interannual variability of water scarcity in food production potential: a global analysis. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 18(2), pp.447-461. Loon, A.F. and Lanen, H.A.J., 2013. Making the distinction between water scarcity and drought using an observationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ modeling framework. Water Resources Research, 49(3), pp.1483-1502. Parker, D.D. and Tsur, Y. eds., 2012. Decentralization and coordination of water resource management (Vol. 10). Springer Science Business Media. Qureshi, M.E., Hanjra, M.A. and Ward, J., 2013. 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