Deck 5: Water: Theres No Substitute Part II: At the Intersection of Ecology and Society

Question 1

Which of the following commodities takes the most water to produce?

A) A kg of sugar.
B) A kg of wheat.
C) A kg of beef (raised in an intensive corn-fed operation).
D) A kg of rice.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What is desalination?

A) Extracting water from rocks.
B) Creating fresh water by removing the salt from sea water.
C) Removing water from the air.
D) Any process that creates fresh water.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Why is water not viewed as your typical "economic good"?

A) The law of supply and demand does not exist when talking about water because you cannot choose what company's water is piped into your house.
B) The price of water that is ultimately set is based on a lot more than just market mechanisms.
C) Social and political factors also shape the cost of tap water (like subsidies for electricity that power pumps).
D) All of the above.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In Society and the Environment, six characteristics were described that justify treating water as something other than a typical economic good. Which of the following was not one of those six characteristics?

A) Water is essential: There is no life, economic production, or environment without it.
B) Water is non-substitutable: There is no alternative.
C) Water is finite: The water that currently circulates through the hydrological cycle is all there is.
D) Water is easily transportable: It can be cheaply moved around the world.

Question 5

Point source pollution:

A) Comes from a pipe or has a clear, specific source.
B) Can be monitored.
C) Can be control and regulated.
D) All of the above.

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of non-point source pollution?

A) Air pollution from a factory smoke stack.
B) Pollution from a company's waste water pipe.
C) Pollution from a community's lawns (due to fertilizer and herbicide use).
D) All of the above.

Question 7

Which of the following is an example of point source pollution?

A) Air pollution from a factory smoke stack.
B) Water pollution from a company's waste water pipe.
C) Sewage waste from a municipal water treatment plant that dumps into a local waterway.
D) All of the above

Question 8

A number of attributes of effective water governance were identified in Society and the Environment. Those attributes included which of the following:

A) Participation, transparency, equity, and accountability.
B) Consumerism, corporatism, inequality, and culpability.
C) Diversity, dynamism, stability, and mutability.
D) All of the above.

Question 9

What is the best definition of market environmentalism?

A) Regulating the distribution of water through market mechanisms.
B) Environmental goods will be more efficiently used if we treat those goods as commodities and allow the market to drive up their prices.
C) Higher prices will create incentives in households and businesses to manage water costs through efficiency gains.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

Which is NOT a dimension of neoliberalism?

A) Privatize public utilities (in this case water plants).
B) Municipalities and local governments no longer have to bear the cost of staff, maintenance and upkeep.
C) Private companies better poised to take risks in investing in the water infrastructure if there is a profit horizon.
D) Local communities gain better control over an essential resources.

Question 11

The United State is one of the top virtual water exporting countries in the world.

Question 12

The virtual water requirements of China are increasing.

Question 13

The cost of one cubic meter of water charged by private vendors in some low income countries is more than 100 times of what that same amount of water would cost in the United States from a municipal water source.

Question 14

Virtual water is similar to the term "embodied energy."

Question 15

Virtual water and LCA -life cycle analysis are opposite and contrasting concepts.

Question 16

Neoliberal strategies attempt to make public private water utilities.

Question 17

Effective water governance should be grounded in society's ethical principles (such as the belief that water is a fundamental human right).

Question 18

Nonpoint source pollution is pollution into waterways from an identifiable point (pipe) source.

Question 19

Many governments, especially in less affluent countries, are overstretched in attempting to deliver and maintain rural services and rely on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for assistance.

Question 20

Small, local, democratic water management projects that are potentially resilient to impacts of climate change are examples of "community rooted projects."

Question 21

Explain what is meant by severe water stress.

Question 22

What is a Water footprint?

Question 23

Explain the concept Virtual water and give examples.

Question 24

Define Market environmentalism.

Question 25

What is Desalinization and what are its pros and cons?

Question 26

Define water as a social vs. economic good.

Question 27

What constitutes effective water governance?

Question 28

What is the difference between point and nonpoint source pollution?

Question 29

What makes a community rooted project? And what are potential pros and cons?

Question 30

Having reviewed the Fast Facts at the start of the chapter 5 (Water), which fact is most compelling (surprising) to you and why?

Question 31

Which Fast Fact would you use to talk to and educate others about our current water crisis? Why and what would you say?

Question 32

What is the market paradox between water and diamonds?

Question 33

Discuss and explain the problem of bottled water and water privatization. Provide details from the chapter in your discussion.

Question 34

What are the positive social outcomes of access to clean drinking water? List them.

Question 35

How does agricultural production negatively impact water quality?

Question 36

How does climate change impact the earth's fresh water system? (Surface and ground water) Discuss and explain with reference to the chapter.

Question 37

Do you drink bottled water? If so, why (knowing its life-cycle impact upon the environment)? Other than an outright ban, what policies would need to be implemented for you to stop your bottled-water consumption?

Question 38

What are some of the downsides of letting markets allocate water? And some benefits?

Question 39

If you were made more aware of your water footprint, would your consumption patterns change? Why or why not? What are some of the barriers to change, and how could those barriers be overcome?