With Reference to Specific River Basins Examine the Need for Management in Resolving Issues Resulting from Their Development (25)
With reference to specific river basins examine the need for management in resolving issues resulting from their development (25)
River basins need to be managed to resolve the two major issues which result from their development which include high flood risk and the conflict caused. The development of river basins such as the River Colorado, USA (an HIC) has led to unequal water distribution and many environmental problems downstream due to lack of scientific knowledge, which has caused conflict in the 7 states the river cater too. Urbanisation in the river basin in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, has increased the flood risk enormously and has meant that the local people have to learn to diversify their livelihoods in order to survive.
One of the major needs for management in areas with river basins is to reduce the flood risk, especially in LICs such as Bangladesh where urbanisation and global warming has increased the flood risk exponentially. The flood risk has increased due to high levels of glacial melt water which has increased due to global warming melting the Himalayas at a faster rate. Perhaps the biggest cause is due to the population growth of migrants going to Dhaka for work (over 1 million people move to Dhaka every year), this has meant that urbanisation and deforestation is taking place to cater for all the people. Urbanisation has increased the surface run off, making the surface impermeable and increasing the amount reaching the river channels. Deforestation has also reduced interception so more water is reaching the surface once again increasing surface run off, roots also bind soil and help keep the soil broken up to allow infiltration, which is not being able to occur as much with the reduced the number of trees. There are over 1000 schools in the area, over 30 millions people depend on the river for their livelihood, and fishing contributes to over 73% of rural residents, which shows how important protecting the
River basins need to be managed to resolve the two major issues which result from their development which include high flood risk and the conflict caused. The development of river basins such as the River Colorado, USA (an HIC) has led to unequal water distribution and many environmental problems downstream due to lack of scientific knowledge, which has caused conflict in the 7 states the river cater too. Urbanisation in the river basin in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, has increased the flood risk enormously and has meant that the local people have to learn to diversify their livelihoods in order to survive.
One of the major needs for management in areas with river basins is to reduce the flood risk, especially in LICs such as Bangladesh where urbanisation and global warming has increased the flood risk exponentially. The flood risk has increased due to high levels of glacial melt water which has increased due to global warming melting the Himalayas at a faster rate. Perhaps the biggest cause is due to the population growth of migrants going to Dhaka for work (over 1 million people move to Dhaka every year), this has meant that urbanisation and deforestation is taking place to cater for all the people. Urbanisation has increased the surface run off, making the surface impermeable and increasing the amount reaching the river channels. Deforestation has also reduced interception so more water is reaching the surface once again increasing surface run off, roots also bind soil and help keep the soil broken up to allow infiltration, which is not being able to occur as much with the reduced the number of trees. There are over 1000 schools in the area, over 30 millions people depend on the river for their livelihood, and fishing contributes to over 73% of rural residents, which shows how important protecting the