THE GROWING SCARCITY OF WATER

The Growing Scarcity of Water

The Growing Scarcity of Water

Global water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population growth in the last century. Water scarcity already affects every continent and more than 40 percent of the people on our planet. By 2025? 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity? and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions. In order to really understand how serious the problem is we first must take stock of the immense impact water has on our daily lives and our ability to provide for a better future (Björn? 2001).

Lack of access to adequate? safe water limits our ability to produce enough food to eat or earn enough income. It limits our ability to operate industries and provide energy. Without access to water for drinking and proper hygiene it is more difficult to reduce the spread and impact of life-threatening diseases like HIV/AIDS. Every day? 3 800 children die from diseases associated with a lack of safe drinking water and proper sanitation. The water scarcity situation is being exacerbated by climate change? especially in the driest areas of the world? which are home to more than 2 billion people and to half of all poor people (Björn? 2001). The human impact on the earth's environment and climate must be addressed in order to protect the world's water resources. But there are other factors involved? such as increases in the amount of water needed to grow the food for a growing population. Agriculture is the number-one user of freshwater worldwide. Also? the trend towards urbanization and increases in domestic and industrial water use by people who live in more developed areas are factors that lead to growing water use. Ultimately? though? the problem is one of the way in which we manage existing water resources and whether we as a global community truly have the political will to support policies and invest in programmes that protect our natural environment? conserve water and use less water to do more (World Energy Outlook 2005).

But political will? international cooperation and investment can help to stem the loss of water from huge river basins like those of the Nile and Lake Chad. That is something that FAO and other United Nations agencies are involved in doing as we speak. Political will and investment can help to bring available water to the millions of small farmers around the world who are struggling to grow enough food to eat? by supporting locally-based programmes that directly involve those farmers and their neighbours in conserving rainfall? using water more efficiently and protecting water resources. Political? and moral? will can help us to bring water to the 1.1 billion people who do not have access to the minimum of 20-50 liters of freshwater required to meet their most basic needs and the 2.6 billion people who don't have enough water to provide proper ...