In this activity, we will explore water resources vulnerability in relationship to a number of factors. Water resources vulnerability is the degree to which groundwater and surface water resource systems can be damaged by both natural and human actions. Multiple factors can contribute to water resources vulnerability, including both internal (e.g. annual rainfall, evapotranspiration, recharge, topography, and geology) and external (e.g. land use, climate change, pollution, exploitation/management, etc.) factors. Once a water resource system is damaged, recovery to its former status is often difficult. After completing this activity you should be able to:
Observe the distribution of water resources vulnerability on the Earth’s surface.
Explain how environmental issues affect the distribution of water resources vulnerability.