FreshWater Crisis at a Glance
The freshwater crisis in rich nations is proof that wealth and infrastructure are no insurance against scarcity, pollution, climate change and drought.
The water problems affecting countries like the United States, is wake-up call to return to protecting nature as the source of water.
Water users must find water-efficiency solutions, which include industrial water management plans and technologies, repairing aging infrastructure, reducing contaminants, and changing irrigation practices.
Water crisis, long seen as a problem of only the developing countries, is increasingly affecting developed countries. A combination of climate change and drought and loss of wetlands that store water, along with aging water infrastructure and resource mismanagement, is making this crisis truly global.
Economic riches don’t translate to plentiful water. Water must be used more efficiently. Scarcity and pollution are becoming more common. Responsibility for finding water-efficiency solutions rests with all of us;
- In Europe, countries on the Atlantic are suffering recurring droughts, while water-intensive tourism and irrigated agriculture are endangering water resources in the Mediterranean.
- In Australia, the world’s driest continent, salinity is a major threat to a large proportion of its key agricultural areas.
- Despite high rainfall in Japan, contamination of water supplies is an extremely serious issue in many areas.
- In the United States, large areas are already using substantially more water than can be naturally replenished. This situation will only be exacerbated as global warming brings lower rainfall, increased evaporation and changed snowmelt patterns.
- Some of the world’s thirstiest cities, such as Houston and Sydney, are using more water than can be replenished.
- In London, leakage and loss is estimated at 300 Olympic-size swimming pools daily due to aging water mains.
- It is however notable that cities with less severe water issues such as New York tend to have a longer tradition of conserving catchment areas and expansive green areas within their boundaries.
- The next group of rapidly developing economies has the opportunity not to repeat the errors of the past and to avoid the costs of saving damaged freshwater ecosystems.
- Regrettably, it appears that the bulk of these nations have already been seduced by major infrastructure plans, such as large dams, with inadequate consideration of whether such projects will meet water needs or inflict human and natural costs.
- In Brazil, despite leading the world with its national water resources plan, concerns remain over some existing dam proposals.
- In India, much of its agriculture is under threat from rampant overexploitation of water resources.
- Elsewhere, China has raised international concerns over the scale and possible ecological and human costs of some of its massive water infrastructure plans.
The water crisis in rich nations is proof that wealth and infrastructure are no insurance against scarcity, pollution, climate change and drought. They are clearly no substitute for protecting rivers and wetlands, and restoring floodplain areas.
The water problems affecting rich and poor countries alike are a wake-up call to return to protecting nature as the source of water. Governments must find solutions for both rich and poor, which include managing water quality, repairing aging infrastructure, reducing contaminants, and changing irrigation practices in the way we grow crops.
World Water Reference
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