Knowledge and Understandings:

• Access to an adequate freshwater supply varies widely. 

• Climate change may disrupt rainfall patterns and further affect this access. 

• As populations, irrigation and industrialization increase, the demand for fresh water increases. 

• Freshwater supplies may become limited through contamination and unsustainable abstraction. 

• Water supplies can be enhanced through reservoirs, redistribution, desalination, artificial recharge of aquifers and rainwater harvesting schemes. Water conservation (including grey-water recycling) can help to reduce demand but often requires a change in attitude by the water consumers. 

• The scarcity of water resources can lead to conflict between human populations, particularly where sources are shared.  

Application and Skills:

• Evaluate the strategies that can be used to meet an increasing demand for fresh water. 

• Discuss, with reference to a case study, how shared freshwater resources have given rise to international conflict. 

International-mindedness:

• Unequal access to fresh water can cause conflict between countries that have an abundance of fresh water and those that do not.

Theory of Knowledge:

• Aid agencies often use emotive advertisements around the water security issue— to what extent can emotion be used to manipulate knowledge and actions?