13 Water Conflict

"The Orange River has its headwaters in the high mountains of Lesotho, a tiny nation completely surrounded by South Africa. The rural mountain communities farm and herd animals, proud of their ability to survive the harsh conditions."

"Conflict continues to rage in Iraq over control of the Mosul dam, which impounds 11 cubic kilometres of water and controls water levels and supplies across the country, writes Jonathan Bridge. It's not the first battle fought over control of water - and it's certainly not the last in a drying Middle East with fast-growing populations."

As anyone who has done a survival course can tell you, we can survive weeks without food but only a matter of days without water. Of course, many of us are lucky enough to have water on tap, but according to the UN, only 42% of people in rural areas had access to clean water in 2004.

"Security analysts in London and Baghdad say control of rivers and dams has become a major tactical weapon for Isis"

"Vast lake's water level expected to plunge to levels that predate the construction of the Hoover Dam"

"This blog post explains and justifies the rationale for creating a set of lessons on the current water crisis in Las Vegas and the American southwest. The lessons are designed to grab students' attention, teach key geographical concepts, improve their skills and challenge students' mental facilities. They are pitched at able GCSE Geography students and have enough stretch and challenge to also be used at A level. With minor tweaking these resources and tasks could easily be used by for Year 13 A2 geographers studying the 'Water Conflicts' Unit 3 topic. "

"Amid a brutal drought the reservoir that supplies 90 per cent of Las Vegas's water is fast disappearing and desperate attempts to save Sin City are under way"

"Mehdiganj plant at centre of protests accused of extracting too much groundwater and releasing pollutants above limits"

The story of bottled water

"A fifth of China's farmland is polluted, according to an offical report based on the results of an extensive survey."

"170 dead pigs recovered from a river in northwest China is the latest in a string of food and water safety scandals"

"Nearly 60% of China's underground water is polluted, state media has reported, underscoring the severity of the country's environmental woes."

reat interactive infographic

"Due to increasing demand for Colorado River water by the United States and Mexico, the final stretch of the Lower Colorado has virtually disappeared. It has been decades since the Colorado flowed all the way through Mexico to the Gulf of California. Major spring floods are a rarity, and the lower reaches of the river only flow after rainstorms or when agricultural runoff drains into the dried riverbed."

"Plan to build 160 dams in the northeast may cut reliance on coal, but would damage wildlife and habitat, and the power generated won't benefit locals, critics say"

"If India can deploy adequate technology to treat water, it could significantly expand its water supply and better water means better public health and economic development"

"Africa's fourth-largest lake could drop by 20 metres, causing an ecological and human disaster to rival the shrinking of the Aral Sea in central Asia, if Ethiopia goes ahead with massive irrigation projects linked to a giant dam, according to a university paper."

"Friends of the Earth campaign highlights problem which it says is being exacerbated by hold-ups in Middle East peace process"

"A grossly inefficient sewage system makes the city's tap water filthy and consigns millions to disease, will it ever improve?"