Water Crisis Facts
- As competition for access to water resources increases, the most vulnerable have the least influence. Governments and companies responsible for the management and allocation of water are prone to conscious or unconscious bias towards the rich and powerful. Lack of infrastructure often means no safe water or adequate sanitation services are provided for poor rural and urban communities.
- The world's poorest people often move to cities in search of employment; this frequently means living in shanty towns. As cities in developing countries grow, water consumption needs of the urban poor are often sidelined. Poorer areas of cities are often left with no water supply or sanitation. Consequently, in many urban areas poor people are forced to pay exorbitant prices for low-quality dirty water from small-scale private vendors.
Dirty water
- Millions of people have no choice but to drink water that could kill them. Globally water related diseases are the single largest cause of sickness and death. A major contributor to this dirty water is the lack of adequate sanitation. Despite safe sanitation being just as critical for human health as access to safe water, it has not generated anywhere near the same amount of initiatives and investment as water provision.
- The absence of adequate sanitation causes many problems, the most devastating of which is the creation of an environment in which debilitating and life-threatening diseases flourish; every 15 seconds a child dies from such diseases.
Water is a Resource
- Every day, 667 litres is the amount of water used in the average American household, 140 litres is the European average person per day, 14 litres is the African and Asian average per household, 19 litres is the mininmum amount of water needed to meet a persons daily needs (Source: WHO). While at the same time, due to water shortages, some of the world's poorest people survive on the equivalent of a 90 second shower!
- The term virtual water describes the amount of water used in the production of a commodity. Some 1,000 litres of water are needed to produce one kilo of wheat, 15,000 litres are needed for one kilo of beef, while a pair of jeans requires 10,850 litres!
- The three largest water users are: Agriculture 67%, Industry 19%, and Municipal or Residential 9%.
- With poorer countries in Africa and Asia suffering from poor management of water resources, the lives of poor people are most at risk. Population growth is a factor as it is taking place where current water shortages are at their worst: in the poorer regions of the world. With current population growth patterns in mind the UN predicts that two out of three people will be living with water shortages by 2025!
Consuming Water
- It is not just the growing population that is driving the demand for water; consumption is rising due to economic development and growing standards of living. From 1900-1995 global consumption of water rose six-fold; more than twice the rate of population growth.
- The rate of consumption is still accelerating; for instance, the expansion of the tourism industry in many developing countries means western-style hotels and complexes swallow up valuable water resources from the local community.
- The industrial sector consumes a huge amount of water; for example, every new car manufactured uses 39,090 gallons of water.
- Agriculture currently accounts for 70% of global water use. Growing standards of living add to this pressure. We now eat more beef, pork, poultry, eggs and dairy products, which in turn means a greater demand for grain to feed animals; more grain means more water is needed for irrigation. A US diet annually requires 800 kg of grain per person compared to just 200 kg for an Indian diet.
- The natural environment, which is the home and source of water, is often destroyed by industrial pollution and degradation. Deforestation and soil erosion are major causes of dwindling water supplies.
Polluted Water
- In addition to the effects of poor sanitation water is also polluted by industry and agriculture. The results of this combined pollution cause disease on a huge scale. The poor are usually the first to suffer from pollution as they are often forced to use water from downstream sources and do not have the access to adequate sanitation that the rich enjoy. Contaminated water spreads bacteria and parasites, for example causing diarrhoea, and carries water-based hosts, such as guinea worms.
- At any given time, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by patients who are suffering from a water-related disease.
- 5,000 deaths a day are caused by lack of clean drinking water. An estimated 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe water, with the result being that one child dies of a water-related disease every 15-seconds.
Climate Changing Water
- Climate change is also contributing to the global water crisis, increasing the number of natural disasters such as floods and droughts, both of which have a negative impact on water resources. Again the world's poorest people are the ones most likely to bear the adverse effects of these natural disasters.
A Planned Water Supply
- Globally there is a huge shortfall in finance and investment in the water sector, both for investment in new operations and for maintenance of existing infrastructures. This lack of investment and the absence of effective planning and management of scarce water resources are often the root causes of water shortages and inadequate sanitation. Governments lack the will, or the capacity, to develop and integrate sustainable water management policies.
Problems for the global Freshwater Situation
- Freshwater is the single most essential good for our well-being. Like a giant engine working day and night, the water cycle and inherent ecosystems are the life support of the planet.
- A recent WWF study estimates that the economic values of wetlands alone are at least $70 billion USD annually.
- Less than 1% of the world's water is readily available for direct human uses. These uses include agriculture and industry, drinking and domestic purposes, and energy generation and transport. Increasing competition for water among such uses is degrading the very natural resources on which we all depend.
- According to United Nations agencies, one-third of the world's population live in countries that are experiencing moderate to high water stress.
- More than one billion people worldwide do not have access to clean freshwater. Three billion do not have adequate sanitation services and the annual death toll from water-borne diseases is estimated at more than three million.
- Floods and droughts claim lives and cripple economies.
- Flooding and drought, often brought on by poor management of river basins, claim thousands of lives and cause billions of dollars of damage to economies and communities. Dams and river navigation works have dramatically altered the amount, timing, quality, sediment content and temperature of flows in most major rivers, wreaking havoc on their natural functions.
- Pollution from towns and cities, industry and agriculture directly affect water supplies for people and freshwater ecosystems
- The collapse of a tailing lagoon at a gold mine near Baia Mare in Romania washed 100,000 m3 of waste water containing cyanides and heavy metals into the Danube river basin, killing fish life and disrupting public water supplies.
- Diversion of water for agriculture and industry is destroying freshwater lakes and rivers.
- In just 30 years, the Aral Sea - formerly the fourth largest lake in the world and a major fishery - has shrunk to less than half of its size, and has become as salty as the ocean. The diversion of irrigation water for agriculture and for power generation, led to severely reduced inflows, leaving an area of almost four million hectares of polluted soils and caused widespread economic losses and human suffering.
- Freshwater species are disappearing
- Scientists generally acknowledge that species dependent on freshwater ecosystems are the world’s most endangered group of plants and animals. According to the WWF Living Planet Report 2006, 31% of freshwater species have disappeared between 1970 and 2003.
- Projections of trends into the future do not brighten the picture
- Currently, 54% of accessible runoff is appropriated by humans. By the year 2025, two-thirds of the world's population could be facing serious problems with water availability. Predictions regarding freshwater biodiversity impacts over that time-frame vary from the disastrous to the apocalyptic.
- Climate change is compounding these effects through increased frequency of extreme weather events.
Source: WWF
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World Water Reference
World Water Council
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Water
for People, Water for Life report is the most comprehensive, up-to-date
overview of the state of the resource, published by UNESCO and the UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
To compile the
report, every UN agency and commission dealing with water has for the
first time worked jointly to monitor progress against water-related
targets in such fields as health, food, ecosystems, cities, industry,
energy, risk management, economic evaluation, resource sharing and
governance. The 23 UN partners constitute the World Water Assessment
Programme (WWAP), whose secretariat is hosted by UNESCO.
World Water Development Report, WWDR 2:
http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/index.shtml
WWDR 2, Executive Summary:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001444/144409E.pdf
WWDR 1, 2003:
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=10064&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Drought & Water Quality and Management
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