IMPORTANCE OF INLAND WATER DISTRIBUTION IN THE WORLD AND MEXICO - ENVIRONMENT - 2025

The importance of the distribution of continental waters in the world and in Mexico, is given by its indispensable character for the human being and the economy, since it is used as drinking water.

Inland waters are permanent reservoirs of water that are located on the surface of the earth or underground, distant from coastal areas. Except for the mouths of rivers and other bodies of water.

This type of water, apart from having a limited volume, just 3.5% of the total water on the planet, is unevenly distributed in the world and particularly in Mexico, where there are regions with an abundance of continental water and others where it is very scarce.

Importance of continental water in Mexico and in the world

Inland waters are limited reservoirs of fresh water, essential for life in cities and fields.

Rivers, lakes, wetlands, floodplains, lagoons, glaciers, and inland saline systems are classified as inland waters.

Continental waters have various uses:

Food and household use

Water from springs and other water sources is essential for human life, either as a drink or as an ingredient in the kitchen. With it, we also bathe, wash food and clean the home.

Industrial

Inland water sources are essential for industry of any kind, be it manufacturing (food, textiles, etc.) or chemical. For this reason, industries are generally located near these water reservoirs.

Agricultural

For the irrigation of crops and the water supply of herds, it is essential to have sources of continental water. Irrigation water is carried through long pipe channels.

River transport and trade

The continental waters in rivers and lakes of great depth are used for transport and river trade, facilitating their development.

Tourist

It is also a tourist attraction in rivers and lakes (the Xochimilco canals in Mexico City, for example).

Energetic

Inland waters are also used to generate hydroelectric energy. Large dams in Mexico such as El Caracol, El Humaya and La Amistad, work due to these water sources.

Factors influencing the distribution of inland waters

Weather

Atmospheric conditions are decisive in the distribution of this type of water, since the amount of water in an area and the physical conditions in which it is found depends on the climate: solid (ice floes), liquid (in rivers or lagoons) or gaseous (humidity, clouds).

When continental water is in a gaseous state, it loses its mineral salts turning into water vapor.

Relief

The relief is another determining factor, because the amount of continental water in a place depends on it. Depending on the relief, the rivers are longer or shorter, wide or narrow and mighty or not.

How the water is distributed

Continental water is distributed and circulates through the earth's surface through the following hydrological cycle:

Evaporation. This physical process converts water that is in a liquid state at any temperature into seas, lakes, lagoons and estuaries in a gaseous state.

Condensation. Water rises from the earth's surface in the form of vapor and forms clouds and atmospheric humidity

Precipitation. It occurs when water, condensed in the form of drops in clouds, cools and precipitates on the surface.

Filtration. Rainwater permeate the soils and seep through it, forming channels or underground rivers that surround the earth.

Runoff They are all the means by which liquid water runs off or slides across terrain. From a mountain to a plain for example.

References

1. Continental waters. Retrieved on December 16, 2017 from nature.com
2. Importance of rain evaporation and continental convection in the tropical water cycle. Consulted of eniscuola.net
3. Continental waters. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
4. Fresh or continental waters. Consulted of portaleducativo.net
5. Continental waters, characteristics and types. Consulted of nature.paradais-sphynx.com
6. Inland waters. Consulted of classeshistoria.com