Question

What is the need for water conservation and management ?

Hint:

To explain the need for water conservation, focus on the imbalance between a growing demand (due to population and development) and a shrinking or threatened supply (due to pollution, overuse, and climate change).

Answer 1

Water is an indispensable resource for life and development, but it is finite. The need for water conservation and management arises from several critical factors:
\begin{enumerate} \item Growing Demand: With a rapidly increasing population, urbanization, and industrialization, the demand for water for drinking, sanitation, agriculture, and industries is rising continuously. \item Limited Freshwater Supply: While the Earth is covered with water, only about 2.5% of it is freshwater. Much of this is locked in glaciers and ice caps, making the available freshwater a very small fraction of the total. \item Uneven Distribution: The availability of water is highly uneven across different regions and seasons. Some areas face floods, while others suffer from severe droughts. Proper management is needed to address this disparity. \item Water Pollution: The quality of available water is deteriorating due to pollution from industrial effluents, agricultural runoff (pesticides, fertilizers), and untreated domestic sewage, further reducing the amount of usable water. \item Depletion of Groundwater: Over-extraction of groundwater for agriculture and urban needs is causing a rapid decline in water tables in many regions, which is unsustainable. \item Climate Change: Climate change is altering rainfall patterns, leading to more extreme weather events like prolonged droughts and intense floods, which makes water management even more crucial. \end{enumerate} In summary, conserving and managing water is essential to ensure a sustainable supply of water for present and future generations, maintain ecological balance, and support continued economic and social development.