An Assessment of Future Global Water Issues

2008

Water is essential for survival. It has been estimated that human beings need at least 4 to 5 gallons of water a day to survive. While there is enough water for everyone, access to that water is a considerable problem. Recent studies forecast that, under current water management conditions, 35 percent of the world's population will run short of water in the next 25 years. Even in areas where water is not scarce, many people do not have access to it. More than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water (two-thirds of them live on less than $2 a day) and more than 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation. Recent UN figures show that there are more than 100 million persons that still lack access to safe drinking water in Europe, contributing to the deaths from diarrhea of nearly 40 children across the region every day. At the world level, current evidence shows that 1.7 million deaths a year could be avoided by providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation. These gaps have been recognized in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), where Target 10 of Goal number 7 calls for halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. It is also dealt with indirectly in Target 5 of Goal 4, which calls for reducing by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the mortality rate of children under 5 years of age.

Even though water policy has generally been considered to be an important issue, its rational formulation and implementation have basically received lip service in the past. Water policies in the 21st century must consider the important changes that have occurred during the past decade, and also the changes that are likely to occur in the coming years. All water policies have risks and uncertainties associated with them. The main changes and constraints are analysed. Water policies cannot be static: they should be considered to be a journey and not a destination. Future policies must address rapidly diversifying social interests and agendas that are likely to be awash in chaos, conicting views, rapid technological changes, globalization, relentless economic competition, political uncertainties and steadily increasing human aspirations. Theoretical and conceptual approaches, irrespective of their attractiveness, are not enough, unless they can be operationalized. This will not be an easy task, but one that must be undertaken.

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS-COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, 2008

(Summary) Three types of water crises appear prominently in academic and professional discourse. These are: 1. crisis of access to safe drinking water, 2. crisis of pollution, and 3. crisis of scarcity. One of the dimensions of global water crises is already obvious to many; the problems of water access, water quality and scarcity are felt nearly everywhere, most prominently with the world's poor and under-represented. When people focus on the issue of scarcity it is easier to identify the global nature of these crises as well ...

The World’s Water, 2014

Growing pressure on the world's water resources is having major impacts on our social and economic well-being. Even as the planet's endowment of water is expected to remain constant, human appropriation of water, already at 50 percent by some measures, is expected to increase further (Postel et al. 1996). Pressures on water resources are likely to worsen in response to population growth, shifts toward more meat-based diets, climate change, and other challenges. Moreover, the world's water is increasingly becoming degraded in quality, raising the cost of treatment and threatening human and ecosystem health (Palaniappan et al. 2010). Furthermore, the physical availability of freshwater resources does not guarantee that a safe, affordable water supply is available to all. At least 780 million people do not have access to clean drinking water, some 2.5 billion people lack access to safe sanitation systems, and 2-5 million people-mainly children-die as a result of preventable water-related diseases every year (Gleick 2002; UN 2009; WHO and UNICEF 2012). There is growing recognition that the scope and complexity of water-related challenges extend beyond national and regional boundaries and therefore cannot be adequately addressed solely by national or regional policies. In a recent report, the United Nations notes that "water has long ceased to be solely a local issue" (UN 2012a, 40). In particular, widespread water scarcity and lack of access to water supply and sanitation threaten socioeconomic development and national security for countries around the world. Additionally, people around the world share and exchange water directly and indirectly through natural hydrologic units and systems and through global trade (i.e., "virtual water," discussed below). Furthermore, climate change and the growing presence of multinational companies within the water sector play a role in globalizing water issues (Hoekstra 2006). Over the past sixty years, a number of efforts have sought to address the many challenges facing the water sector. Early efforts to address these challenges were almost entirely based on developing large-scale physical infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs, to produce new water supplies. Amid a growing recognition that technology and infrastructure alone were not sufficient to address persistent water management concerns, discourse about water governance began to emerge in the early 1990s. In its first World Water Development Report, the United Nations strongly stated that the "water Global Water Challenges As described below, the scope and complexity of water-related challenges extend beyond traditional national and regional boundaries. Such challenges require broader thinking and more comprehensive solutions. Water Scarcity Water scarcity is a major challenge, affecting every continent around the world. Water scarcity occurs when water demand nears (or exceeds) the available water supply. Several groups, including the World Resources Institute and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), have developed tools to promote a better understanding of where and how water risks are emerging around the world. The IWMI, for example, estimates that 1.2 billion people-nearly 20 percent of the world's population-live in areas of physical water scarcity, where water withdrawals for agriculture, industry, and domestic purposes exceed 75 percent of river flows. An additional 500 million people live in areas approaching physical scarcity. Another 1.6 billion people live in areas of economic water scarcity, where water is available but human capacity or financial resources limit access. In these areas, adequate infrastructure may not be available or, if water is available, its distribution may be inequitable (IWMI 2007). But water scarcity isn't solely a natural phenomenon; it's also a human one. Numerous human activities-such as untimely water use, pollution, insufficient or poorly maintained infrastructure, and inadequate management systems-can result in or exacerbate water scarcity. As noted by the United Nations, there are adequate water resources to meet our needs, but water "is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed" (UN 2012b). Widespread declines in groundwater levels are one symptom of water scarcity. Groundwater is an important source of freshwater in many parts of the world. Some areas, however, have become overly dependent on groundwater supplies. In the past two decades, advances in well-drilling techniques have significantly reduced the cost of extracting groundwater. Driven, in part, by these technological advancements, groundwater withdrawals have tripled over the past fifty years (UN 2012a). In some areas, the rate of groundwater extraction now consistently exceeds natural recharge rates, causing widespread depletion and declining groundwater levels. A recent analysis of groundwater extraction by hydrologist Yoshihide Wada and colleagues (2010) finds that depletion rates doubled between 1960 and 2000 and are especially high in parts of China, India, and the United States. Much of the groundwater extracted supports agriculture (67 percent), although it is also used for domestic (22 percent) and industrial (11 percent) purposes.

2012

This article examines the consequences of the disparity between the drinking-water target of the Millennium Development Goals and the measure used to report progress. It has recently been announced that the target had been met in 2010. The authors adjust reported figures to reflect that the official measure, use of an 'improved water source', may not always indicate safe water. They find that progress towards the target may have been substantially over-estimated.

2016

Water | 1 W ater is an essential resource whose use is increasingly coming under scrutiny as acute and chronic shortages proliferate around the world. Population growth, the rise of the global middle class, and urbanization are putting stress on existing water resources. Water security and geopolitical stability are contingent on the effective resolution of both the global and the local tensions affecting the efficient and equitable use of this resource. Water is normally considered to be a renewable resource, but its quality and distribution around the world are the subject of innumerable debates, frictions, and conflicts. Most natural disasters, as many as 90 percent, are water related. Major refugee crises have erupted as a result of droughts or conflicts over water. The OECD has estimated that by the year 2030 almost four billion people-nearly half of the world's predicted population-will live in areas with serious water shortages, mostly in Africa, Australia, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Nearly 700 million people lack access to clean drinking water, and about 2.8 billion face water scarcity during at least one month a year. The scarcity problem can be driven by physical/environmental or economic factors. Some parts of the world lack enough water to support present and future population levels, while in other areas, water scarcity is due to economic reasons such as lack of infrastructure or mismanagement of resources. Water pollution further limits supplies. More than two-thirds of worldwide human-related water consumption is for agricultural purposes, while industrial usage accounts for 20 percent and households for the remaining 10 percent. Sustainability in agriculture thus poses the greatest challenge, and it involves not just the efficient use of water but also the judicious use of soil, fertilizers, and other inputs. New irrigation techniques, genetically modified waterefficient crops, wastewater reuse, and to some extent desalination may increase water efficiency while reducing soil pollution, but may never become the fix to our growing water needs, especially in inland areas. More importantly, behavioral change, especially in terms of dietary preferences (e.g., meat consumption), could make a big difference in terms of reducing water-to-calorie ratios. Water is also essential for almost every source of energy. According to the United Nations, about 90 percent of all electric power generation is water-intensive. Water is needed to extract, wash, and sort raw materials and fossil fuels; cool thermal power plants; cultivate biofuels; and power hydroelectric turbines. The risks affecting the water-energy connection are manifold. Pollution of aquifers needed for human consumption or agricultural use due to mining or fracking operations is on the rise. Anthropogenically-driven climate change will be a disruptive force, changing precipitation and evaporation rates on land, and more generally changing the systemic interconnections among land, oceans, and the atmosphere. Policymaking and planning needs to take into consideration the constraints and the risks inherent to increasing demand for both water and energy. Water issues also figure prominently on the global development agenda. According to the 2015 Update of the joint UNICEF and World Health Organization report, 9 percent of the world's population lacks access to an improved drinking water source. The Sustainable Development Goal for the year 2030 is to "achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all."

Hydrology: Current Research, 2021

The remarkable success recorded at the end of Millennium Development Goals in 2015 was a laudable one and so its sustainability becomes desirable, having hit 90% accessibility globally. Thus, the current global target through the United Nations initiated programme called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is on course to ensure that there is no setback in the sector. This paper reviews various challenges which may hinder the enduring sustenance of the success realized in the water supply subsector in the developing nations. Relevant literatures were considered and reviewed, and desk check was carried out. It was discovered that if water access in most developing nations will be sustained then attempts should be made to attend to the myriads of socioeconomic challenges as they could render the global efforts towards water accessibility almost a waste. Apart from this, developing countries should gear up to pursue subduing all these challenges in order to keep up with their developed nations counterpart.

New England Journal of Public Policy, 2007

A s we move into the International "Water for Life" Decade the debate over whether water is an economic commodity or a social good is at the top of the international agenda. The privatization of water services is one of the most controversial issues in freshwater management at the international level. At the Third World Water Forum in March 2003, Kyoto, angry protesters stopped major sessions on financing, led by Michel Camdessus, former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and that of the all male CEO Panel, which included the CEOs of sixteen large multinational corporations, including the three major private water suppliers, Vivendi, Suez, and RWE Thames. The protesters made the case that water is a fundamental human right and thus should not be treated as a commodity that can be bought and sold for profit. Speakers from the audience brought up horror stories about private sector interventions in Cochamba, Bolivia; Buenos Aires; Atlanta; Manila; and elsewhere. The perception of this group is that the only privatization option is for a private company to take over the whole water system and raise prices to consumers. In fact, the word privatization is a misnomer. The involvement of the private sector in water resource management can range from total divestiture of the resources (as in the UK under Prime Minister Thatcher) to outsourcing billing and administrative tasks to private contractors. In developing countries, it is often small-scale private providers who operate and maintain facilities at the local level. Water is essential for all aspects of human life, and is fundamental to the existence and health of our planet's ecosystems. For the world's poorest, access to clean and affordable water is a prerequisite to basic health and to daily productivity. Yet over one billion people lack access to clean water and over two million people die each year in developing countries from This article by Marcia Brewster is taken from the proceedings of the EPIIC Symposium at Tufts University in

Choice Reviews Online, 2007

The cover design captures the idea that millions of the world's people lack access to safe water not because of scarcity, but because they are locked out by poverty, inequality and government failures. Tackling these problems holds the key to resolving the global water crisis. Safe water and sanitation are fundamental to human development. When people are deprived in these areas, they face diminished opportunities to realize their potential as human beings. Unsafe water and inadequate sanitation are two of the great drivers of world poverty and inequality. They claim millions of lives, destroy livelihoods, compromise dignity and diminish prospects for economic growth. Poor people, especially poor women and children, bear the brunt of the human costs. At the start of the 21 st century we live in a world of unparalleled prosperity. Yet almost 2 million children die each year for want of clean water and a toilet. More than 1 billion people do not have access to safe water and some 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation. Meanwhile, inadequate access to water as a productive resource consigns millions to lives of poverty and vulnerability. The Report documents the systematic violation of the right to water, identifies the s u m m a r y h u m a n d e v e l o p m e n t r e p o r t 2 0 0 6 Foreword This year's Human Development Report looks at an issue that profoundly influences human potential and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Throughout history human progress has depended on access to clean water and on the ability of societies to harness the potential of water as a productive resource. Water for life in the household and water for livelihoods through production are two of the foundations for human development. Yet for a large section of humanity these foundations are not in place. The word crisis is sometimes overused in development. But when it comes to water, there is a growing recognition that the world faces a crisis that, left unchecked, will derail progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and hold back human development. For some, the global water crisis is about absolute shortages of physical supply. The Report rejects this view. It argues that the roots of the crisis in water can be traced to poverty, inequality and unequal power relationships, as well as flawed water management policies that exacerbate scarcity. Access to water for life is a basic human need and a fundamental human right. Yet in our increasingly prosperous world, more than 1 billion

At the request of the Secretariat of the Fourth World Water Forum, this paper has been prepared to serve as a "reference point for discussion" on the theme of Water for Growth and Development. It seeks to raise a very basic question -how can water resources be managed and developed to promote growth and alleviate poverty in a responsible manner? The dynamics of water, growth and poverty are extremely complex, and highly dependent upon specific physical, cultural, political and economic circumstances. The immediate goal of this paper is therefore to provoke discussion and strengthen understanding of the importance of water resources management and development in enabling responsible economic growth and poverty alleviation -fully mindful of the fact that this is just one of many aspects that must be weighed and understood in managing water resources. The paper's broader objective is to contribute to a constructive, comprehensive dialogue that will help inform the difficult trade-offs inherent in water management, and assist decision makers in finding the most acceptable balance among human aspirations for growth and poverty alleviation, social and cultural integrity, and environmental sustainability.