fw.3.3 Growing human pressures on lakes and aquifers
Content
- Geographic inquiry and concept(s)
- The varying power of different actors in relation to water management issues
- Geographic knowledge and understanding
- Growing human pressures on lakes and aquifers, including economic growth and population migration
- Case study or detailed examples
- Neither required by the syllabus
- Aims of this lesson
- To be able to explain the pressure put upon lakes by humans - including population and economic growth
- To be able to explain the pressure put upon aquifers by humans - including population and economic growth
Base knowledge and understanding
News article
‘I fear people will go to war over water’: as wells run dry, farmers struggle to survive in Bangladesh
The arid Barind region was transformed by aquifer wells but now the water system is collapsing under the pressure of the climate crisis and decades of extraction
The Guardian · 9 June 2026
Key terms
- Aquifer
- A body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater.
- Harmful algal bloom
- Occur when colonies of algae - simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater - grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. The human illnesses caused by HABs, though rare, can be debilitating or even fatal.
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Review
- For one named example, explain two ways in which different stakeholders have contrasting views on freshwater management. [4]
- Evaluate the extent to which integrated drainage basin management plans balance the needs of different stakeholders. [10]
- Examine why it can be difficult to manage the environmental consequences of agricultural activities on freshwater quality. [10]
- Examine the power of different stakeholders in resolving conflicts over internationally shared water resources. [10]
- Examine how increased dam building can create both opportunities and challenges for communities within a drainage basin. [10]
- Examine why different stakeholders may disagree about the future management of one named wetland area. [10]
