WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

Abstract

Water means life and civilization. All living things on Earth need water, both above and below ground, to survive. Playing a vital role in everything from regulating bodily functions to maintaining ecosystem balance, water has become the most critical strategic asset for food security, economic development, and a sustainable future due to limited freshwater resources. Living beings obtain this water from rivers, lakes, seas, etc. on the surface, and from groundwater stored in the pores, voids, and cracks of rocks underground. Water is an indispensable basic resource for sustaining life on Earth, human health, agricultural production, and industrial activities. These waters have many positive and negative effects on the environment. Besides its use for drinking and cleaning, human-made projects such as stream rehabilitation, natural dams, ponds, dams, electricity generation, tourism, and agricultural irrigation have positive environmental impacts. However, ecologically, these projects also have negative environmental impacts such as floods, landslides, erosion, coastal erosion, sinkholes, and tsunamis. It is a known fact that it has many negative effects, such as those mentioned above.