Chapter 4: Water Availability and Use

A concrete bridge with yellow and black striped barriers spans a body of water, supported by multiple pillars. A vehicle is parked on the road leading to the bridge on the left side. The sky is mostly cloudy with patches of blue, and power lines with pylons are visible in the background.
A portion of the newly constructed Qosh Tepa canal in northern Afghanistan, 2023. The canal offers an opportunity to reduce food insecurity for many. However, construction issues and open construction in a desert may lead to substantial water losses. Bek 1998 CC BY-NC-SA

In their 2025 progress report on the UN sustainable development goals, the UN reported that 2.1 billion people lacked access to safely managed drinking water in 2024. Although water pollution can reduce water availability, arid areas and areas with poorly managed water supplies have little water to begin with. In this section, we will see some of the management issues associated with use and overuse of water resources and methods used to improve availability.

Learning Outcomes

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Understand the water cycle and sources of fresh water
  • Understand the extent of unsustainable withdrawals of water from surface water and groundwater sources
  • Understand major causes of water loss from water systems
  • Understand the anticipated impact of climate change on water availability
  • Be familiar with standard methods to improve water availability

 

Chapter Outline

  • 7.1 The water cycle and fresh water supply
  • 7.2 Water supply problems and solutions
  • 7.3 Water availability case study

Media Attributions

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Environmental Sustainability Science Copyright © by Vicky Meretsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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