Canada’s Water Resources Geography 20F Unit 2: Natural Resources

Canada’s Water Resources Water covers over 70% of the earth's surface, lies underground and is present in the air that surrounds the earth as water vapor On earth, water is mainly found as oceans but is also found as rivers, streams, lakes and in the ground. Water supports all forms of life- none can exist without water. Water is neither created nor destroyed by natural forces. Water therefore is called a recyclable resource.

Earth’s Water Reserves Salt Water - 97% Fresh Water- 2% Frozen & 1% Fresh Run-off: Rain water the flows on the Earth's surface rather than being absorbed by the ground.

Earth’s Water Reserves Groundwater: Water that is found below the Earth's surface in the spaces of soil and bed rock. Hydrologic Cycle: Pathway followed by water from oceans and lakes through the atmosphere and then back to the land and waterways.

Hydrologic Cycle Insert Hydrologic Cycle Video

Water Resource Issues Geography 20F

Water Resource Issues Did you know that Canada is one of the highest water users per capita in the world? It's no wonder that easy access to safe, clean water is considered to be an important issue. Managing Canada's water resources, which represents about 7% of the world's renewable freshwater, is everyone’s responsibility.

Pollution It is easy to dispose of waste by dumping it into a river or lake. In large or small amounts, dumped intentionally or accidentally, it may be carried away by the current, but will never disappear. It will reappear downstream, sometimes in changed form, or just diluted. Freshwater bodies have a great ability to break down some waste materials, but not in the quantities discarded by today's society. This overload that results, called pollution, eventually puts the ecosystem out of balance.

Types of Pollution Chemical Pollution: chemical waste that makes its way into the water system Acid Rain: refers to rainwater that has been contaminated with chemicals through industrial emissions. Acid Rain can wear down and corrode surfaces of landscapes, buildings, cars etc. Runoff Fertilizer: excess fertilizer dissolves in water and eventually ends up in a large body of water. Accumulation of chemicals leads to Eutrophication.

Types of Pollution 2. Biological Pollution: Bacteria, Viruses, Heat and Human sewage that makes its way into the water system. Also refers to Flora and Fauna that are not native to the water systems The Great Lakes: Invasive Species like the Zebra Mussel that foreign to the area, multiply excessively because of the lack of natural predators

Types of Pollution 3. Physical Pollution: contamination of water systems with garbage, old tires, pop cans and Industrial waste. Industrial Waste: Garbage and sludge from manufacturing that are put back into water ways, deposit in areas causing disruption to the natural ecosystem.

Groundwater Contaminant

Groundwater Contaminant It has often been assumed that contaminants left on or under the ground will stay there. This has been shown to not be true. Groundwater often leaks and spread the effects of dumps and spills far beyond the site of the original contamination Groundwater contamination is extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to clean up, often rendering the site unusable for decades after the initial contamination.

Toxic Chemicals Hazardous wastes are a byproduct of manufacturing, farming, city septic systems, construction, automotive garages, laboratories, hospitals, and other industries. The waste may be liquid, solid, or sludge and contain chemicals, heavy metals, radiation, or other toxins. Even households generate hazardous waste from items such as batteries, used computers, and leftover paints or pesticides.

Toxic Chemicals Disposing of toxic waste is a tricky situation, as you must insure that no leakage will occur into the area around the dumpsite, eventually leaking into the water supply. Once toxic waste has reached the water supply two major problems hamper society for ridding the toxic chemicals from our water supply: We do not entirely know how to completely stop leaks. We do not yet have the technology to remove chemicals once they have entered the water

Eutrophication Eutrophication is the over-abundance of nutrients in a water body, causing algal blooms that can be toxic. Fertilizers like Nitrogen and Phosphorus often “feed” algae blooms in lake water bodies, which are the eventual end point, of agricultural run-off.

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg is the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world, and covers almost 25,000 sq. kms. “Threatened Lake of the Year” for 2013. With a watershed that spans nearly 1 million sq. kms, and drains 90% of the Prairie’s agricultural land, Lake Winnipeg has an abundances of Phosphorus and Nitrogen runoff from agricultural fertilizers. This has lead to mass algae blooms that grow so large that they choke out the other life forms in the large lake.

Save My Lake: Lake Winnipeg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eaUihTvwyI