Human Activities on Rivers
Geography: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 1.1.17
Human Activities Affecting River Processes
Human activities on and near rivers can affect river processes.
Agriculture
- Farmers often work near rivers because they can use the river's water for irrigation.
- Livestock and cattle can overgraze, compacting soil, leading to higher surface runoff and a higher risk of flooding.
- Infiltration into the soil is also lower.
Industry
- Increased industrial land use means that a larger proportion of surfaces are impermeable.
- This means there is an increase in surface runoff into rivers, increasing the risk of flooding.
- Increased industrial land use also causes a reduction in evapotranspiration because there are fewer plants and trees.
Urbanisation
- Urban areas have a lot of impermeable surfaces like concrete.
- So, an increase in land use for urban areas means that there are more impermeable surfaces, leading to an increase in surface runoff into rivers.
- This increases the risk of flooding.
- Urbanisation also causes a reduction in evapotranspiration because there are fewer plants and trees.
Test yourself on Human Activities on Rivers
Which of the following human activities can have a significant effect on river processes?
Which of the following human activities causes a decrease in evapotranspiration?