Q1. [3] medium thorough-understanding
Despite being a renewable resource with three-fourths of the Earth's surface covered by water, many regions still face water scarcity. Explain how a city receiving adequate rainfall can still suffer from water scarcity, identifying at least two distinct causes.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:30 · grounding rag
Model Answer
A city receiving adequate rainfall can still face water scarcity due to the following reasons:
- Over-exploitation of groundwater: Large and dense urban populations, housing societies, and industries install their own groundwater pumping devices, causing falling groundwater levels and depletion of freshwater resources.
- Water pollution: Domestic and industrial wastes, chemicals, pesticides, and fertilisers pollute available water, making it hazardous for human use even when quantity is sufficient.
- Unequal access: Growing population leads to greater demand, and water may not be equally distributed among all social groups.
Thus, water scarcity is not always about low rainfall but also about mismanagement and pollution.
Source: Water Resources, Chapter 3 — Water Scarcity and the Need for Water Conservation and Management
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Explanation
- Examiners expect students to go beyond the obvious cause (low rainfall) and identify demand-side and quality-side causes.
- Two causes are the minimum required; three makes the answer stronger for 3 marks.
- Key terms to use: over-exploitation, groundwater depletion, water pollution, unequal access — these are directly from the textbook.
- Do not write a long essay; 3–4 crisp points with brief explanation is ideal for 3 marks.