Water: is there hope?

The world's supply of clean, fresh water, already threatened by growing levels of pollution, is growing so scarce in some areas that if current trends continue, two thirds of humanity will suffer "moderate to severe water stress" within 30 years, according to a United Nations report.

Titled "Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World", the report warns that the situation not only imperils human health and development on a vast scale, but also the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems on which much of the earth's life depends. "There is clear and convincing evidence", it says, "that the world faces a worsening series of local and regional water quantity and quality problems, largely as a result of poor water allocation, wasteful use of the resource, and lack of adequate management resources.

A third of the world's population already suffers from what the report calls "moderate to high" stress as a result of overdemand and pollution of water supplies. The report says that by 2025, if all humanity is to have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, the needs of an additional 5 billion people will have to be met. It stresses that it is crucial that there be an international consensus on the potential severity of the crisis. The evidence so far indicates that Governments must give water resources a high priority in their national planning.

The growing scarcity of water is also hampering the expansion of agricultural production at a time when demand for food is rising with steady population growth, the report says. It urges that efforts to deal with the water crisis be made in tandem with an international drive to move towards global food security. In some countries, there will be a need to move from food self-sufficiency to greater reliance on food purchases from world markets.

Current levels of water shortages and pollution are causing "widespread public health problems, limiting economic and agricultural development and harming a wide range of ecosystems", the report states. "They may put global food supplies in jeopardy and lead to economic stagnation in many areas of the world", triggering "a series of local and regional water crises with global implications".

The report also acknowledges some bright spots. Some countries, particularly in the developed world, have achieved not only significant improvements in water quality, but "impressive reductions" in the use of water for irrigation and for industry and municipalities. But on balance, it adds, "these gains have not reversed either the general trend towards water shortages, or the widespread decline in water quality".