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Water management issues

In 2006, it was estimated that:
1.1 billion people living in developing countries have insufficient acces to water
2.6 people do not benefit of a basic sanitation
400 million children have no access to safe water
Moreover, lack of water is closely related to poverty, which are the causes of millions of
deaths every year.
A overview of the problem
The fact that our planet cannot provide enough water for all purposes (agricultural,
industrial or domestic) is called the "water stress". This problem is born due to multiple
factors:
Population growth: the world population is increasing at an alert pace, most of the
growth taking place in developing countries (in Africa and Asia mostly) where the water
stress is most severe.
Expansion of business activities: From industrialisation to services (tourism,
entertainment etc.), the business activity is expanding rapidly. As a consequence,
increased water services are requires for both supply and sanitation.
Rapid urbanisation: Urban areas are appearing and expanding fast in most countries
nowadays. Therefore, urbanisation requires water infrastructure to deliver water to
individuals and to process the wastewater. The polluted water demands treating ,
otherwise it poses public health risks.
Climate change: It has a major impact on water ressources. Rising temperatures
increase evaporation, thus increases in precipitation. Overall, the global supply of fresh
water will increase, but higher temperatures will also affect water quality. Furthermore,
because of the increasing temperatures, there is an increased demand for water(farm
irrigation, garden sprinklers and so on). To sum up, Climate change will have a profound
impact on the water sector in terms of water availability, demand and allocation at all
levels.
Water pollution: The most important threat in terms of water pollution is that sewage
(waste removed from a community) is discharged into natural waters. This method of
garbage disposal is most common in underdeveloped countries. The worst part of it is
that, even if the sewage is treated, problems still arise.
What is being done on a global scale?
Raised awareness: The United Nations sponsor several programs to raise global
awareness concerning water security and availability in countries where poverty is
present.

International collaboration and coordination: Water conservation efforts include a

greater international collaboration on the management of shared resources. The existing
water resources need to be preserved most carefully.
New technology: It enables nations to better manage the existing water resources. For
example, the amount of water used for agriculture can de reduced by planting droughtresisting plants and by using drip irrigation (water is delivered directly to the base of the
plant by a network of narrow tubes).

Soil production: why do we need them?

Soil is a thin layer from the earth's surface in which plants grow. It consists mainly
of particles of crushed rock and green table. The history of the study of soil is very tied
to our urgent need to provide food for ourselves and animals.
First of all, soil is used in agriculture, where it serves as primary nutrient base for
plants. People grow plants for food but also for others important and useful materials as
cotton or linen. But in some areas, cutting trees or practicing intensive agriculture lead
to soil erosion and compromising crops. Plants are the basis of all land animals food
chain.
Soil material is a component in the mining and construction industries. It serves as
a foundation for most construction projects. The movement of massive volumes of soil
can be involved in surface mining, road building and dam construction.
Also organic soils, especially peat, serve as a significant fuel resource; but wide
areas of peat production are now protected because of patrimonial interest. Soil can
also filter and purify water. It can be also used to make fuels.

> Why do we need forests for?

Forest provides multiple benefits to environment, people, and animals. The list
of benefits is as follows:
Forest cool air temperature by release of water vapor into the air.
At day time trees generate oxygen and store carbon dioxide, which helps to clean air.
Forest attracts wild life and offer food and protection to them.
Forests offer privacy, reduce light reflection, offer a sound barrier and help guide wind
direction and speed.
Trees offer artistic functions such as creating a background, framing a view,
complementing architecture, and so on.
Well managed forests supply higher quality water with less impurity than water from
other resources.
Some forests raise total water stream, but this is not true for all forests
Forests help in controlling the level floods.
Forest provides different kind of wood which are used for different purposes like

making of furniture, paper, and pencils and so on.

Forest help in giving the direction of wind and its speed.
Forest helps in keeping environment healthy and beautiful.
Forests also minimize noise pollution.
Forest helps the scientist to invent new medicine as forest has different kind or plants
and herb.
So, generally speaking it provides a habitat for plants and animals to live in, help
in the collection of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, preventing the chance of
global warming happening in the near future.

From rock to soil: a long formation process

Soils may be formed in place from rock or formed in weathered rock and minerals
that have been transported from where the original rock occurred.
The soil formation takes a lot of time. It can take over 1000 years! During the soil
formation, five principal factors take part: the climate, the organisms, the relief, the
parent material ( especially rocks and minerals) and the time.Generally speaking the soil
is made from the weathering of the rocks and the minerals. Through the process of
weathering, which is actually the breaking down of rocks, minerals and soils and why not
artificial materials coming especially because of the pollution through contact with the
Earth, the rocks break down into small pieces generally small as the sand particles.
Then, the result from the weathering process is mixed with moss and organic matter and
over hundreds of years this creates a thin layer of soil. This thin layer of soil covers most
of the earth's land surface and it's vital to the human survival because it sustains plants,
animals and people. Plants are very important to the soil's development by attracting
animals. These animals die and their bodies decay, this makes the soil rich and thick.
The soil formation never stops . It will occur whenever the wind blows or the rain water
falls on the ground.
This life-long process won't stop until the rock masses on earth disappears.

Soil formation:

Soils are porous natural bodies composed of inorganic and organic

matter. They form by interaction of the earth's crust with atmospheric and
biological influences. They are dynamic bodies having properties that reflect
the integrated effects of climate (atmosphere) and biotic activity
(microorganisms, insects, worms, burrowing animals, plants, etc.) on the
unconsolidated remnants of rock at the earth's surface (parent material).
These effects are modified by the topography of the landscape and of course
continue to take place with the passage of time. Soils formed in parent
materials over decades, centuries, or millennia may be lost due to accelerated
erosion over a period of years or a few decades.
The exposed surfaces of soils are a common sight on almost any
landscape not dominated by rock. The surface of a soil reveals very little about
the depth of the soil or its subsurface characteristics. A vertical cross-sectional
view of a soil is called a soil profile. Each of the horizontal layers which can be

seen in the vertical section is called a soil horizon. Horizons are formed
because of the integrated effects of climate and biosphere change and
generally become less pronounced with depth. The depth of soils, usually 0.6 to
1.8m, is determined by the depth to which the mantle material has been
altered in a significant way. That part of the three-dimensional soil body in
which the effects of climate and biological activity are most pronounced is the
soil solum. In succeeding pages the nature and properties of soils, their
management, and environmental public policy issues will be discussed.
The proportions of these components may vary between horizons in a
soil or between similar horizons in different soils. The ratio of soil water to soil
air depends upon whether the soil is wet or dry. The mineral matter, composed
of particles ranging in size from the submicroscopic to gravel or even rocks in
some cases, accounts for the bulk of the dry weight of the soil and occupies
some 40 to 60% of the soil volume. Organic matter, derived from the waste
products and remains of plants and animals, occurs in largest amounts in the
surface soil, but even here seldom accounts for more than 10% of the dry
weight of the soil.
Soils are very porous bodies. Some 40 to 60% of the volume is
interparticle space, or pore space. The pores, highly irregular in shape and size
but almost all interconnected by passages, contain soil water, soil air, or both
of these. The soil water reacts chemically with the soil solids and usually
contains dissolved substances and perhaps suspended particles. The soil air
approaches equilibrium with atmospheric air through movement of individual
gases.
Bedrock is the ultimate source of the inorganic component in soils.
When rock is exposed at the surface of the earth's crust, it is broken down into
smaller and smaller fragments by physical forces. The fragments may be
altered or decomposed by chemical reaction of mineral matter with water and
air. Hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years may be required for the
weathering or physical and chemical alteration of rock to produce the ultimate
end products in soils. Once particles reach a sufficiently small size they can be
moved by wind, water or ice when exposed at the surface. It is common,
therefore, for small particles to be moved from one location to another. A
single particle might occur in several different soils over a period of 100,000
years. Eventually, these particles or their decomposition products reach the
ocean where they are redeposited as marine sediments.
The silicate group of minerals is dominant in soil systems. The
terms, clay mineral and layer silicate, are used almost interchangeably. The
dominant chemical elements in silicate clays are oxygen, silicon, aluminum
and iron. Important constituents in relatively small amounts are potassium,
calcium, magnesium and sodium. Other elements occur in very small amounts
in silicates. Carbonates, oxides, phosphates and sulfates are other mineral
groups that occur commonly in parent materials