Primary Economic Activities

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Primary Economic Activities

Primary economic activities are jobs which involve working directly with the raw materials from the earth.

Renewable resources: Resources that can be used over and over again without risk of running out e.g trees

Non-renewable resources: Resources that can be only used once. These will eventually run out. e.g Oil

Irrigation: Artificial watering of the land. Used to help crops grow in places where there is little rainfall.

Central Valley Project Uses water from Sacramento river to irrigate the San Joaquin Valley and provide drinking water

To achieve this:

Dams were built on the river to create large reservoirs where water can build up.

Canals and aqueducts were used to pipe water from the north of the valley to the south

Advantages of this scheme

The valley is irrigated in times of drought

The towns and cities in the area have a water supply

Disadvantages of this scheme

It was expensive to build the dams and pump the water so the cost of the produce increases

A lot of water evaporates from the reservoirs which leaves their salt content high, and this can lead to poisoning of the land.