Availability of Water

This is the 2007 draft on water availability. You will get the newest version here.

Water is needed for drinking, cleaning and food production, etc. (and so on) As a regional resource, shortage might occur, which resolves from drought, overuse or unsound methods of agriculture respectively freshwater management.

Affected people and foundations of life: More than 1.2 billion people live in areas of physical water scarcity, lacking enough water for everyone's demands regarding food production, health and development (IWMI [International Water Management Institute] 2007, 10; FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations] 2007, 135). This applies especially to North Africa and the Middle East. Mankind is using more than half of global freshwater resources (WBGU [German Advisory Council on Global Change] 1998, 98). 5-25% of global freshwater usage probably exceeds long-term accessible supply (e. g. [for example] regeneration rate of ground water; MA [Millennium Assessment] 2005, 106f. [and following]). This also raises the risk of conflicts.

Targets/goals: to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies (Millennium Summit: UN [United Nations] 2000, § 23 [4]).

Trend: − Within less than 25 years two thirds of the world population will live in countries with water scarcity (WB [World Bank] 2004a, 30). Water quality, on global average, is declining, too (MA 2005, 43).

Measures: The Global Water Partnership, initiated by the UN, supports countries in their sustainable management of water resources (GWPforum.org).

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Annotations: For numeric names the short scale is used:
1 billion = one thousand million = 10⁹ = 1 000 000 000

Sources

• FAO 2007 – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: State of Food and Agriculture 2007.  
• IWMI 2007 – International Water Management Institute: Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. Summary.   London: Earthscan, and Colombo: International Water Management Institute.
• MA 2005 – Millennium Assessment: Ecosystems and Human Well-being; Synthesis; A Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.  (Written on behalf of the UN, coordinated by UNEP [United Nations Environment Programme].) Washington.
• UN 2000 – United Nations, General Assembly: United Nations Millennium Declaration.  
• WB 2004a – World Bank: World Bank Atlas 2004.
• WBGU 1998 – German Advisory Council on Global Change (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Globale Umweltveränderungen der Bundesregierung): World in Transition: Strategies for managing global environmental risks.   Annual report 1998. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, et al.: Springer, 2000 [publishing year of English version].

Draft (2007)