When the population of a city grows, what often happens to local water sources?

People use water for drinking, bathing, cooking, washing clothes, and maintaining lawns and gardens. Water also is used by the manufacturing sector to make products, by the agricultural industry to provide food, and by the energy industry to provide illumination, heat, and air conditioning.

The amount of water used directly by individuals is related to various human attributes such as age, education, cultural background, religious beliefs, and financial status. In general, more people use more water, even if the amount they use individually is reduced by education, the implementation of conservation practices, or technological improvements in watersupply systems.

Water sources in a specific region vary in the quantity and quality of water they contain at a given time, and in their rate and timing of replenishment. If projected withdrawals to meet population growth exceed the ability of the water sources that may be called upon to meet them, then new sources must be developed, if that is possible; otherwise, cutbacks in water use will be required. Yet demands can be decreased only so far until the decreases may endanger public health, damage the environment, or adversely influence the region's economy.

The impacts of population on the quantitative water needs of a locality are related to population density (that is, how the population is distributed geographically), and to the rate of increase or decrease in population growth. Because population changes affect such variables as the economy, the environment, natural resources, the labor force, energy requirements, infrastructure needs, and food supply, they also affect the availability and quality of the water sources that can be drawn upon for use.

Population is highly correlated with public water supply, about 56 percent of which is allocated for domestic (household) purposes. According to the U. S. Geological Survey, the average per capita public water use in the United States in 1995 was about 179 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) and that for domestic water use was about 101 gpcd. An average per capita figure for all water uses in the United States in 1995 (municipal, industrial, agricultural, etc.) was estimated to be about 1,280 gpcd.

The impacts of population on the quantitative water needs of a locality are related to population density (that is, how the population is distributed geographically), and to the rate of increase or decrease in population growth. Because population changes affect such variables as the economy, the environment, natural resources, the labor force, energy requirements, infrastructure needs, and food supply, they also affect the availability and quality of the water sources that can be drawn upon for use.

Population is highly correlated with public water supply, about 56 percent of which is allocated for domestic (household) purposes. According to the U. S. Geological Survey, the average per capita public water use in the United States in 1995 was about 179 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) and that for domestic water use was about 101 gpcd. An average per capita figure for all water uses in the United States in 1995 (municipal, industrial, agricultural, etc.) was estimated to be about 1,280 gpcd.

they rapidly decrease