Book: Landscape Planning and Environmental Impact Design: from EIA to EID
Chapter: Chapter 7 Agriculture, farming and countryside policy
The countryside can play a major role in conserving fresh water. Fresh water is one of the planet's scarcest resources. Only 0.2% of the earth's water is fresh and of easy access. In arid regions, fresh water is being 'quarried', in the sense that underground reservoirs are being drawn down faster than they are being replenished. Agricultural practices can make an immense contribution to water conservation. The following practices may impose costs on farmers, but will supply the public with a benefit.