What Does Water resources Mean
We explain what water resources are, what types exist and what they are for. Also, various examples and water resources in Mexico.
What are water resources?
Water resources are the reservoirs and inputs of fresh water that , in different physical states and being available or potentially available, can be used by human beings to satisfy some need.
It is one of the great natural resources of planet Earth . It is essential not only to sustain life , but to preserve the physical-chemical balance of the planet.
The amount and arrangement of water resources varies enormously depending on the geographic region . While in some places it is wasted, in others it is a particularly rare commodity.
In addition, there are different polluting agents and activities that threaten the preservation of water, and that require constant measures to keep them at bay.
It is known that two thirds of the earth's surface is submerged, and that 97.5% of that total water is contained in the seas and oceans , that is, it is salt water, whose use requires additional activities such as desalination.
Therefore, only 2.5% of the planet's water is fresh water and, in turn, of that percentage, 68.9% is contained in the planet's polar ice caps and glaciers, and another 30.1% in the aquifer deposits that are found below the surface. Which leaves only 0.4% of fresh surface water available for direct use .
See also: Renewable resources
Types of water resources
The water resources of a nation or a region can be found in different presentations, such as:
- Rivers and lakes. Stagnant or flowing freshwater accumulations that irrigate the continental shelf. The rivers are born in the ice that melts in the summit of the mountains , and the lakes are stagnations of these waters.
- Groundwater. Freshwater deposits underground, formed over long periods of time and with a greater or lesser degree of purity, depending on the underground environment in which they are found.
- Glaciers and perpetual snow. Water at certain heights or at certain altitudes is exposed to temperature levels that cause it to physically change, thus forming ice, perpetual snow or icebergs .
What are water resources for?
Water resources, in principle, do not have a specific use, since they are natural resources . But they are usable by humans for a diverse set of activities, such as:
- Agriculture . For the irrigation of plantations.
- Livestock . To feed the cattle.
- Chemical industry . To obtain hydrogen and oxygen, or to feed other types ofcontrolled chemical reactions .
- Urban consumption . That is, to bring fresh water to our homes with which to cook, shower or clean ourselves.
- Mining . To separate valuable components from the rest of the earth.
- Energetic industry. In hydroelectric or power plants, in which water vapor is used to generate electricity .
Importance of water resources
The importance of water resources exceeds the merely economic, commercial or industrial. It is not only a directly usable input, that is, something that we can take and transform into something else, but it is also an irreplaceable resource to perpetuate the different biochemical and biogeochemical cycles of the planet.
The water resources of a region are also a guarantee of the fertility of its lands, the stability of its climates and its biodiversity .
Examples of water resources
Lakes, rivers, deltas, large snowy peaks or underground aquifers are examples of water resources.
Mexico's water resources
Although the Mexican region has huge deserts , it also has important water resources, including 320 hydrological basins , such as those of the Yaqui, Fuerte, Mezquital, Lerma, Santiago and Balsas rivers, all slopes towards the Pacific Ocean; and the Bravo, Pánuco, Papaloapan, Grijalva and Usumacinta rivers, which flow into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mexican nation makes good use of these resources through hydraulic works that store up to 125,000 million square meters of water , corresponding to 34% of the annual runoff from the rains. Of this, 33% is used to supply water to the semi-arid regions of the north and 37% in electricity generation tasks.