fw.4.1 Participation of local communities to improve water management
Content
- Geographic inquiry and concept(s)
- Future possibilities for management intervention in drainage basins
- Geographic knowledge and understanding
- The importance of strengthening participation of local communities to improve water management in different economic development contexts, including sustainable water use and efficiency, and ensuring access to clean, safe and affordable water
- Case study or detailed examples
- Neither required by the syllabus
- Aims of this lesson
- To have knowledge and understanding of how the residents of Cape Town responded to the 'Day Zero' water crisis.
- To have knowledge and understanding of how artificial glaciers are being used in India to create a reliable water source for irrigation.
Base knowledge and understanding
News article
Trouble brewing: Maya people in Yucatán fear new Heineken plant’s thirst for water
Indigenous groups in Mexico opposed to the planned brewery say families already have little access to water – and that their way of life is also under threat
The Guardian · 4 October 2025
Key terms
- Per capita consumption
- Calculated by dividing the total quantity of material goods (water) consumed by the population.
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Local participation in water management can provide places with the power to be sustainable. Innovation on a local scale provides people with the possibility of accessing safe, clean drinking water.
Review
- Suggest one reason why ensuring access to affordable clean water is more challenging in low-income countries. [2]
- Explain two ways in which local community participation can improve water management. [4]
- Examine the role of local community participation in achieving sustainable water management in different economic development contexts. [10]
- Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used to manage the consequences of salinisation and eutrophication on freshwater environments. [10]
- Examine the extent to which growing human pressures on aquifers threaten long-term water security. [10]
- Examine the challenges of ensuring access to clean and affordable water in areas experiencing rapid economic growth. [10]
