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Humanity's use of water has a long history for obvious reasons—agua es vida! Civilization is thought to have first arisen in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley, where irrigation canals have been used for at least 6,000 years. In addition, the site of vast water bodies (lakes, oceans) or flowing water in rivers and streams, provide aesthetic appeal and comfort for many, as well as providing sources for food, waste disposal, and recreation. For these reasons among others, humans have lived and worked near water, exerting strong and important influences on the water cycle, water quantity, and quality.
Reading assignment
- To better understand some of these influences please visit the Wikipedia entry for "Water Resources." Much of the information there has been covered in this course, so plan to focus on the sections entitled "Uses of fresh water" and "Water stress."
- To learn more about Human influences on water quality visit the Utah State University Cooperative Extension and read about Agriculture & Water Quality, Urban Stormwater, and more.
Credit: Karan Witham-Walsh, 2008