There are four key issues to consider when thinking about global water issues:
Water scarcity: In some parts of the world a changing climate is drying up traditional water sources and leading to erratic weather, leaving 1.1 billion people without access to safe water. This causes conflict over scarce resources, puts strain on the women of the family to walk miles for water, leads to death and illness from drinking unsafe water, and affects food production, leading to hunger and increased global food prices when there is a decline in supply.
Water sanitation: Throughout poor countries, access to clean water and basic sanitation is the major water threat, with 2.6 billion lacking adequate sanitation leading to 5 million deaths per year. People living in extreme poverty, such as slum dwellers, for example, do not pay rent for their land nor taxes and thus are deprived of basic city services, like sewage treatment and water delivered through pipes. It is estimated by 2030 that 2 billion of the world’s people will live in slums.
Water access: Water access links to both scarcity and sanitation issues in many parts of the world, but is in and of itself a problem as well. For the most part it means that even if there is enough water for people in an area (through ground water, a spring or a river) there is no water infrastructure in an area (such as a well, pipes or a capped spring). This problem often results in long distance water walking or water sanitation problems. Furthermore, while the world’s water sources are depleting, the world’s population is growing. In the past 100 years, the world’s population has tripled yet water consumption has increased sixfold, leaving more people living under conditions of extreme water stress.
Resource management: This is often a political issue in water scarce or water stretched areas. It usually means that there are many groups vying to use the same water source and that without political intervention there becomes a frightening “race to the bottom” as all interested parties scramble to use as much of the water as they can.
What’s my water usage? Click here to download a survey for calculating your daily water use.
Click here for a PDF from the Common Language Project that presents key facts and statistics about water.
