Abingdon Reservoir - For or Against? - Advantages and disadvantages table in GCSE Geography

Created by: FenellaMae
Created on: 02-05-18 16:58


	Abingdon Reservoir - For or Against?
	Advantages The proposed reservoir would solve the issues surrounding London's growing demand for water and the water stress in the south-east of England The construction and maintenance of the reservoir would provide local jobs and employment in the Oxfordshire area The reservoir would become an area for wildlife, and would create valuable habitats for many rare water-based species - therefore increasing/maintaining biodiversity in the rural area Abingdon reservoir, like Farmoor reservoir, would present opportunities for human activities such as bird-watching, photography, windsurfing and sailing - this would be beneficial to people of the area as they will have more leisure activities available The leisure activities (e.g: sailing, bird-watching) would attract tourists and visitors to the Abingdon area, which would create opportunities for jobs in the tourism and leisure industry - therefore boosting employment in the local area Some may argue that a reservoir is less visually-intrusive than housing estates, which if the land is left may be built instead	Disadvantages For the reservoir to be built, farmland and homes will be flooded/lost - this has economic impacts (farmland) and social (people must move and adapt when they won't even be served by the reservoir) The construction of the Abingdon reservoir will have several significant impacts on the environment, such as destruction of habitats and loss of biodiversity in the area, as well as noise and air pollution from the heavy goods vehicles which will be used Some argue that the reservoir will be visually intrusive on the rural landscape, and it will be an 'eyesore', particularly where the embankment is at its highest Due to the proposed location of the reservoir, the flood risk will increase, posing a threat to the locals, as the land which usually takes excess floodwater will be used so this water will have to be diverted The reservoir will not serve the local people, so why should they suffer? Abingdon reservoir may be unnecessary - the issue with water stress/high demand could be solved or at least relieved by taking other measures, such as: installing water meters, making the public more aware of their consumption, reducing leakage (which accounts for 20 percent of water loss) and recycling greywater for use in toilets
	Evaluation The Abingdon reservoir will have many environmental impacts which can be both positive and negative, however there is no denying that the reservoir is likely to be implemented as a measure to combat the growing demand of water and the water stress of the south-east and London. Many would argue that the disadvantages may outweigh the advantages of the reservoir, particularly as the loss of habitats and threat to biodiversity could mean that the project may be labelled as 'unsustainable' due to the probability of the reservoir impacting the environment and the resources for the future.

Abingdon Reservoir - For or Against?

Advantages

The proposed reservoir would solve the issues surrounding London's growing demand for water and the water stress in the south-east of England
The construction and maintenance of the reservoir would provide local jobs and employment in the Oxfordshire area
The reservoir would become an area for wildlife, and would create valuable habitats for many rare water-based species - therefore increasing/maintaining biodiversity in the rural area
Abingdon reservoir, like Farmoor reservoir, would present opportunities for human activities such as bird-watching, photography, windsurfing and sailing - this would be beneficial to people of the area as they will have more leisure activities available
The leisure activities (e.g: sailing, bird-watching) would attract tourists and visitors to the Abingdon area, which would create opportunities for jobs in the tourism and leisure industry - therefore boosting employment in the local area
Some may argue that a reservoir is less visually-intrusive than housing estates, which if the land is left may be built instead

Disadvantages

For the reservoir to be built, farmland and homes will be flooded/lost - this has economic impacts (farmland) and social (people must move and adapt when they won't even be served by the reservoir)
The construction of the Abingdon reservoir will have several significant impacts on the environment, such as destruction of habitats and loss of biodiversity in the area, as well as noise and air pollution from the heavy goods vehicles which will be used
Some argue that the reservoir will be visually intrusive on the rural landscape, and it will be an 'eyesore', particularly where the embankment is at its highest
Due to the proposed location of the reservoir, the flood risk will increase, posing a threat to the locals, as the land which usually takes excess floodwater will be used so this water will have to be diverted
The reservoir will not serve the local people, so why should they suffer?
Abingdon reservoir may be unnecessary - the issue with water stress/high demand could be solved or at least relieved by taking other measures, such as: installing water meters, making the public more aware of their consumption, reducing leakage (which accounts for 20 percent of water loss) and recycling greywater for use in toilets

Evaluation

The Abingdon reservoir will have many environmental impacts which can be both positive and negative, however there is no denying that the reservoir is likely to be implemented as a measure to combat the growing demand of water and the water stress of the south-east and London. Many would argue that the disadvantages may outweigh the advantages of the reservoir, particularly as the loss of habitats and threat to biodiversity could mean that the project may be labelled as 'unsustainable' due to the probability of the reservoir impacting the environment and the resources for the future.

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Abingdon Reservoir - For or Against?