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When the Aral Sea shrinks, the salinity of the waters increases. This can be seen when the salinity of the Aral Sea went from 10g/l in 1960 to around 90g/l in 2004. This causes many freshwater species such as the Aral Trout, in the Aral Sea to die due to the new environment that is not suitable for them. Less fish will affect the livelihoods of fisherman. More importantly, there will be a decrease in food supply due to loss from fishing. Thus, Aral Sea shrinkage destroys many biodiversity.

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Physical impact

The Cape Town “Day Zero” Crisis accelerated construction and implementation of new, diverse water infrastructure projects.

The city was very reliant on surface water from the dams. Thus the threat of “Day Zero” had forced the government to fast-track projects that had even only theoretically plans, like the drilling of aquifers to extract groundwater, the commissioning of temporary desalination plants to make seawater potable, and the expansion of water recycling programs.
The city's landscape was physically altered by the appearance of drilling rigs, new pipeline networks, and desalination facilities, moving away from a single source to a more resilient mix of water sources that changed the physical water system of Cape Town, making it less susceptible to future droughts.

Thus this physical impact pushes the government to start working on water infrastructure projects.

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Impacts of water stress

P: The people in countries on the lower sections of the Mekong river will not get sufficient water due to political cause

E: The Chinese government built 11 hydropower dams on the upper Mekong river, holding back and controlling massive quantities of water.

E: This reduces the amount of tif water released from the dam’s downstream to the countries on the lower Mekong river.

L: Hence, the people in the lower sections of the Mekong river will receive little water for consumption.

Vietnam, which is at the very bottom of the Mekong river, experiences decline in the quality and quantity of water supplied, and this impacts the amount of water available for their agricultural use

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When the Soviet-Union diverted waters at the Aral Sea, they used chemicals that caused spread of diseases such as increased rates of respiratory diseases, cancers, and neurological disorders from consuming contaminated water and breathing toxic dust.

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Social impacts of water stress in Pakistan

P: Water stress decreases public health and sanitation standards in Pakistan.

E: Around 30–40% of diseases in Pakistan are linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation, including diarrhoea, cholera, and hepatitis. Only 30% of wastewater is treated before being discharged.

E: This increases the disease burden, especially among children and the poor, while overwhelming the already strained healthcare system. Women are more affected due to limited access to clean facilities for menstrual hygiene.

L: Hence, water scarcity leads to widespread health risks and deteriorates the overall quality of life for vulnerable communities.

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Political:

P: Government policies promoting free electricity for agriculture (increased food production)

E: Encourages overextraction and state dominance over water management. Political inter-state disputes over resources.

E: This will worsen the water scarcity and severe groundwater depletion that was contributed by policy choices and governance issues.

L: Due to the political choices, water stress increased

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P: People lost their jobs.

E: Water restrictions meant a staggering cut in yields and there was inflation in food. The employers could not afford to pay their employees, which lead to them losing their jobs.

E: approximately 37000 jobs were lost, resulting in an overall increase in prices. An estimated 50000 people were pushed below the poverty line with no job.

L: Hence, it caused people to lose their jobs.

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Negative social impacts of the Mekong River disputes

P- The Mekong River disputes have multiple negative social impacts, but especially increased food insecurity for downstream countries.

E- When China builds dams in order to control the water going to the downstream countries, this disrupts the natural river flow, which leads to a loss of biodiversity and fishes. This increases food insecurity among downstream countries.

E- For example, Vietnam is experiencing this as they are unable to fish for as much food as they used to. This impacts them significantly, especially with the growing population that increases the number of mouths to feed.

L- In summary, the Mekong River disputes have caused food insecurity among downstream countries, especially Vietnam and Cambodia.

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One social impact of water stress in Pakistan is increased gender inequality.

In rural Pakistan, women and girls often walk long distances to fetch water due to declining groundwater levels and inadequate supply. This is the result of a lack of closer and more accessible water sources. A UNICEF report highlights that millions of girls in South Asia miss out on school partly because of water collection duties.

This increases gender inequality. First, it limits women’s economic opportunities, as time spent fetching water could otherwise be used for education or paid work. The women would be unable to attend school or work, which puts them in poverty and reliant on others for financial support. This traps them in a poverty cycle. In areas facing acute water stress, women are also more exposed to health risks and harassment during water collection, deepening their social and physical vulnerabilities.

As such, water stress causes gender inequality in Pakistan.

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P: Many lower-income families do not have access to clean drinking water, and fall sick easily.

E: In India, most waste water is released untreated into nature, which is why 70% of the country’s freshwater is polluted. Their water is contaminated with many industrial pollutants such as fluoride and arsenic, which infiltrate their groundwater.

E: This creates serious health risks as lower-income families do not have the means to buy clean water to drink, leading them drinking contaminated water, posing serious public health threats, especially in rural communities that depend on untreated sources of water.

L: Hence, the people who have a lower income are unable to buy clean drinking water, and face serious health risks.

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Pakistan is experiencing social impacts of water stress such as waterborne diseases and malnutrition.

Without proper sanitation and treatment of unclean water, people in Pakistan consume water that is polluted and therefore, gets waterborne diseases like cholera, leading to significant rates of child morality.

Water shortages lead to the decrease in crop yields and lower quality of crops, with major impacts on crops that require a large amount of water such as wheat, rice and sugarcane. Sugarcane is one of Pakistan’s major produce and with the decrease in water supply, the amount of good quality sugarcane produced decreases, causing income of farmers to decrease. The drop in agricultural produce raises food prices, threatening national food security. With limited income and rising food costs, the poorer families in Pakistan cannot afford adequate nutrition. If water scarcity continues to be unaddressed, this cycle of disease, poverty and food insecurity will worsen

Hence, waterborne diseases and malnutrition is a significant social impact of water stress in Pakistan.

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P: One of the impacts of water pollution in the Mekong River is the spread of water borne diseases.

E: Water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, diarrhea and more. 1 million people are estimated to die each year from diarrhea due to unsafe drinking water which has poor sanitation and hand hygiene.

E: As there is already a lack of water in the Mekong River, most of the water is contaminated and has poor sanitation, which link to the transmission of the diseases stated above. Absent or inadequate management of urban, industrial and agricultural wastewater means that the drinking-water of many people is heavily contaminated and chemically polluted. Since the accessibility and availability of water is the most important to the people, they often neglect the quality of water.

L: Hence, the spread of water borne diseases risks many people’s lives or even cause them to die.

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(P)A social impact of water stress in the Colorado is lower food security.

(E)When water stress occurs, there will be lesser water for the farmers to use to grow their crops or feed their livestock. This will lead to an insufficient quantity of food for consumers, which will lower food security.

(E)For example, the Colorado river’s water is used to plant around 90% of the country’s winter crops and alfalfa, which is grown to feed cattle. Water stress will lead to the farmer’s receiving less water, so the farmers will not be able to grow the same amount of winter crops and sell them at the same affordable price. Additionally, they will also not be able to grow as much alfalfa, so the livestock may not receive enough food and die before they can be slaughtered and sold. These will hence lower food security.

(L)Therefore, a social impact of water stress in the Colorado is lower food security.

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One economic impact of India’s groundwater crisis is it’s devastating impact towards India’s agricultural yield.

“Reduced water availability impacts agriculture, the backbone of the country's economy, leading to lower crop yields and increased food prices”.

The depletion and pollution of groundwater, once a free source of irrigation for the farmers, leads to more costs in terms of irrigation. If farmers don’t have the money to buy the water needed for irrigation, then the crops will wilt and the crop yield will decrease. Even if the farmers choose to use the polluted groundwater, their crops will suffer from the water source and will either die or be lacking in quality, leading to reduction in quality and quantity of crop yields.

Since agriculture is an essential part of their economy, India’s economy will be severely impacted by this crisis.

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social impact

P : Water stress at the Tonle Sap lake increases food insecurity in the region.

E : When water stress caused by urbanisation occurs at the Tonle Sap lake, more plant species are destroyed, disrupting the hydrological cycle in the region and causing less precipitation.

E : This causes the lake to have less water to account for all the freshwater species in the lake. Hence, fewer freshwater species are able to survive in the lake, causing a population decline in these species. As these species are a primary source of food for the people living atop the Tonle Sap river, a decrease in freshwater species causes these people to have a decrease in food to feed themselves. This results in food insecurity as the number of people living near the Tonle Sap lake who are unable to receive adequate food increases.

L : Hence, food insecurity at the Tonle Sap lake is an impact of water stress.

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P: The Tigris Euphrates river dispute would create further political tensions, including political unrest and diplomatic relations, in the middle east.

E: The building of dams in Turkey along the tigris-euphrates river has caused downstream and midstream countries like Syria and Iraq to have a lesser supply of water as it alters the natural flow of water distributed to these countries leading to water stress, thus causing further mistrust.

E: This makes it difficult for the three countries to come to a agreement regarding the distribution of water, leading to political unrest and instability.

L: Therefore, the water stress caused by the dispute would lead to political unrest and straining of diplomatic relations.

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Economic impacts: the cost of water will increase, to conserve water, some districts pay farmers to not plant crops, leading to a loss of income for those growers. Additionally, industries that rely on healthy river systems, such as rafting, fishing, and other forms of tourism, can suffer as water levels drop and the overall health of the ecosystem declines. Cities and industries that depend on the river's water for drinking, sanitation, and manufacturing processes also face increased operational costs and potential supply restrictions during drought periods.

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social impacts of the tigris euphrates river dispute

Water scarcity in the Tigris Euphrates river dispute causes severe job losses, especially in the agricultural sector, leading to widespread poverty and displacement. Since farming and fishing depend directly on steady river flows and fertile land, reduced water availability would cause crops and livestock to die due and farmers’ to have lower yields. In Iraq, prolonged droughts and reduced irrigation from the Tigris–Euphrates system have forced many farmers to abandon their ancestral lands as crops fail and livestock die. This has pushed rural families into cities like Baghdad and Basra, where they often struggle to find alternative employment. Therefore, the collapse of agriculture due to water scarcity would cause farmers to have a loss of jobs and displace a large number of people into other cities for jobs.

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The Aral Sea Shrinkage caused the collapse of fishing industries. (economic impact)

For example, after the Soviet Union diverted water from the Amu Darla and Syr Darla rivers, the Aral Sea’s main sources, areas such as Moynaq were severely impacted by the over diversion of water.

The fishing industries provided livelihoods for thousands of fishermen and the people living there. With the Aral Sea Shrinkage, fish populations have decreased significantly. Many communities that depended on fishing, as a source of income or as a source of food, experienced servers economic hardship and unemployment.

Hence, the Aral Sea Shrinkage caused the collapse of fishing industries and negatively impacted the lives of those living there.

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P: A social impact of water stress on Pakistan is that it worsens gender inequality and leads to lost opportunities for females.

E: Women in rural Pakistan spend several hours daily collecting water, a task that significantly impacts their health, safety and well-being. The long journeys to fetch water also put women at heightened risk of harassment, assault, and other dangers, particularly in areas affected by disasters like floods.

E: Water stress disproportionately burdens women with time-consuming water collection, limiting their education and economic opportunities. This may eventually lead to women having a lack of job opportunities. Despite their participation in agricultural and domestic use of water, their role is not recognised generally nor is this reflected in policies, possibly due to a lack of political knowledge.

L: This exclusion limits the overall effectiveness of water management policies and perpetuates gender-based equalities.

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P: The overuse of water for industrial purposes in the Mekong River region has led to significant economic impacts, particularly for local agriculture and fisheries.
E: For example, increased water extraction by hydropower dams and industries in countries like China, Laos, and Thailand has reduced water flow downstream, causing lower fish stocks and decreased agricultural yields in Cambodia and Vietnam.
E: These industries divert large volumes of water for manufacturing, mining, and energy production, disrupting the natural flow of the river. This reduction in water availability harms traditional livelihoods that rely heavily on seasonal flooding and fertile soils, such as rice farming and inland fishing. As a result, local economies suffer due to reduced productivity and increased competition over limited water resources, while governments may also face rising costs for irrigation infrastructure and food imports.
L: Therefore, industrial overuse of water in the Mekong River Basin causes deep economic harm to communities and sectors dependent on consistent water supply.

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Water stress caused large storage reservoirs in the Colorado River to deplete faster than it could replenish naturally, Decreased snowpack that melts earlier in the Rocky Mountains has led to reduced water flow in the Colorado River, affecting ecosystems and reducing the water supply. Climate change also creates more intense wildfires in the region, and when rain follows the fires, surface runoff carries large amounts of sediment into the Colorado River, further disrupting its natural flow.

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There there is very little economic gain.

A lot of water is wasted this way, by flooding the fields with water for low value crops from about 70-80% of the river. These crops will often be shipped out or sold to other countries, so that can be seen as “shipping” or “wasting” water for something they won’t even earn a lot of money from or use — which leads to low economic return for the water used.

For example, low-value, water-intensive crops like alfalfa often only sell for hundreds of dollars per ton despite consuming a lot of water. In the Colorado River, where water scarcity due to higher temperatures and droughts is happening, dedicating large volumes of water to produce crops that get low financial returns is economically inefficient. While premium-quality hay can fetch higher prices, about $240 per ton, these gains may still not affect the environmental and long-term cost of unsustainable water use.

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Water stress can lead to political conflicts between countries.

Conflicts occur as water stress force different groups to compete for the same limited supply. When an upstream country controls the river flow, water is not evenly distributed and the downstream countries might feel at a disadvantage and thus conflicts arise.

For example, China, being the most upstream country in the Mekong river, operates many dams which caused water to be diverted from downstream countries. This led to political conflicts as downstream countries like Vietnam depend heavily on the Mekong river for their livelihood, and China controlling the supply of the water flow have caused the population of freshwater species to decrease, causing Vietnam to have a loss of food supply. This unequal control has sparked political disputes between China and the downstream nations, highlighting how water stress can create international conflicts over resource allocation.

Therefore, the Mekong river dispute shows how water stress would lead to political tensions.

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P: The Cape Town’s Day Zero caused water stress in the country which resulted in unrest amongst its citizens.

E: In early 2018, as water restrictions tightened, poor townships like Khayelitsha and Philippi staged protests outside municipal offices with many people arguing that the restrictions were unfairly enforced and the government didn’t take action fast enough.

E: Due to the believe that the government was unfair in distributing water, with wealthier suburbs seemed to cope better than poorer communities, distrusts grows in the country, causing the government harder to take action.

L: Thus, leading to unrest in people.

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Physical

A physical impact of the Mekong River Dispute is the reduction of food supply.

Due to the irregular diversion of water away from the Mekong river, the seasonal flood pulse is affected. When floods are delayed or takes place in advance, fishes may miss spawning cues or not have safe areas to lay their eggs due to the fac that there are less flooded areas. This leads to fewer eggs laid, lower survival rates, and population decline.

In Cambodia, water stress in the Mekong causes lower river levels that prevent migratory fish like catfish and carp from reaching spawning grounds. Reduced flooding also shrinks nursery areas for young fish, leading to declining fish populations. A study analyzing 17 years of fish catch data for 110 species in the Lower Mekong Basin revealed an alarming 87.7% decline in fish populations, with over 74% of species showing statistically significant decreases.

In summary, the Mekong River Dispute poses threats to the overall fish population.

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Social impacts of water stress in the Tigris-Euphrates River includes population displacement and migration due to water scarcity, as well as humanitarian crisis.

In Iraq, particularly in southern governorates like Thi-Qar and Basra, as people are forced to leave drying farmlands and marshes in search of water, economic opportunities, and basic services.

The Basra crisis refers to the worsening water crisis in Iraq's southern Basra governorate, characterized by high salinity, pollution, and scarcity, leading to widespread health problems and food insecurity. This escalating humanitarian challenge stems from decreased freshwater flows from the Tigris Euphrates rivers, upstream damming, drought, climate change-induced sea-water intrusion, and poor water infrastructure. The escalating situation has resulted in protests, increased demand for emergency aid, and a suspension of farming.

Water scarcity forces individuals and communities to move in search of water, leading to significant demographic (structure of populations) shifts and putting pressure on new communities.

A lack of access to portable water, as seen with the Basra crisis, can directly lead to public health issues like cholera outbreaks and malnutrition, especially in areas reliant on rainfed farming or with existing water resource pressures.

Thus, population displacement and humanitarian crisis are social impacts of water stress in the Tigris Euphrates.

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P: There was an increased inequality in water distribution, especially amongst that of the more affluent and underprivileged.

E: Before the water crisis, more affluent households used up to 2000l of water daily, while lower-income households consumed about 197l. In addition, 14% of the city’s population used half of the drinking water supply, due to a difference in the number of pools/bathrooms (or water for recreational use). During the water crisis, lower-income households had to reduce their already little water consumption from about 197l to 101l per day, affecting essential needs, while higher-income households did reduce their water use as well, yet still had enough for other non-essential needs. Finally, the wealthy were able to tap into groundwater as a supply, by drilling boreholes and creating wells, but the less wealthy were unable to do so, causing water stress to have a higher impact on them.

E: From already present water stress and inequality, the Cape Town water crisis evidently heightens inequality in water stress, causing the difference in the amount of resources available to the privileged and the underprivileged to be increased.

L: Thus, the Cape Town water crisis increased the inequality in water distribution based on wealth

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Social impacts of dispute in Iraq

P: The Tigris Euphrates River dispute caused lower supply of water in Iraq.

E: The dispute caused reduced water supply in Iraq. This was because upstream dams in turkey and Syria controls and reduces the inflow of the river, with Iraq vulnerable as the downstream state.There was less water for agriculture, drinking, and industry downstream. There was also lower groundwater recharge where there was less seepage into surrounding soils , which led to declining groundwater levels.

E: This can be seen as a result of the less surface area of water in the Mosul Dam. A research conducted shows that The head of Mosul Dam illustrated in Landsat 8 imagery, June 9, July 11, August 12, and September 13, 2014 shows rapid changes in the water-surface area of the reservoir. Militants captured the dam on August 8, and relinquished control on August 16.

L: Therefore, we can see the impact of lower water supply in Iraq due to the Euphrates Tigris dispute

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A physical impact of water stress is that the people who experience water stress experience a decrease in food security.

This is evident in the CNA documentary, “Species Extinct, Livelihoods Ruined”, in which a fisherman who was living downstream of the Mekong River stated that “fish are confused and do not know where to lay their eggs”.

This shows that water stress in the Mekong River decreased the supply of water that is released to the downstream of the river, disrupting the “flood pulse” that guides fish from upstream to lay their eggs downstream. Thus, when less water is released downstream, especially during the wet season, in which the Mekong River regularly floods, the flow of water downstream is weaker and less distinguishable, thus the fish are unable to follow the flow of water downstream  and cannot lay their eggs downstream, leading to a decrease in fish population downstream and thus less fish to consume for the people living downstream, leading to less availability  and therefore less food security for the people living downstream of the Mekong River who experience water stress.

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A physical impact of the Aral Sea shrinkage is harsher regional climate, with hotter summers and colder winters. This is due to the loss of the lake’s former cooling effect on the regional climate, leading to hotter drier summers and longer, colder winters. This may lead to dehydration due to the drying up of water and extreme weather patterns. In summer, water will evaporate and during winter, water will freeze. Hence, there is a minuscule amount of water available for use or consumption. Crops will die due to a lack of water, affecting the livelihoods of people. Water supply is scarce and therefore will lead to water stress due to water not being readily available.

Another physical impact is increased dust storms carrying toxic salts and pesticides from the exposed seabed.

The shrinkage of the Aral Sea led to a significant increase in the salinity of the remaining water and the exposed seabed. The exposed, dry seabed became a source of dust storms that carry salt, pesticides, and heavy metals (like lead and cadmium) from the former lakebed across the region. These dust storms deposit salt and other toxic substances onto agricultural lands, contaminating soils and affecting crops. With water being polluted, there is a decreased availability of water leading to water stress.