'Third of population' affected by water scarcity
Effective water management 'necessary' to tackle water shortage
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Monday, 21, Aug 2006 04:00
More than a third of the world's population is affected by one form or another of water scarcity, a new report from the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture has found.
Released at World Water Week in Sweden, the study is said to be the first of its kind in the last 50 years and overruns predictions that problems with water shortages would come to pass.
Radical changes are now called for more effective water management.
"Worrisome predictions in 2000 had forecast that one-third of the world population would be affected by water scarcity by 2025. Our findings from the just-concluded research show the situation to be even worse," said Frank Rijsberman, director general of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), which spear-headed the research.
"Already in 2005, more than a third of the world population is affected by water scarcity. We will have to change business as usual in order to deal with growing scarcity water crisis we see in some countries like India, China, and the Colorado River basin of USA and Mexico."
700 experts from around the world studied policies and practices of water use and development in the agriculture sector over the last five years, finding that a third of the world's population lives where water is either over-used or cannot be accessed due to inadequate infrastructures.
The report warns that water shortages signal worrying news for the world's 800 million rural poor, as they have limited access to reliable, safe and affordable water. More people who are dependent on rivers, lakes and other wetlands could find their livelihoods destroyed due to pollution, flooding and drought.
Egypt has to import more than half its food as it does not have enough water to grow it domestically; Australia has a major water scarcity in its Murray-Darling basin due to large quantities of water being diverted for agriculture use; and the Aral Sea in Central Asia has shrunk to a quarter of its original volume due to water diversion.
David Molden, who led the study, said that all countries would be forced to make "tough decisions" as to how they should allocate and manage water.
"If you don't consciously debate and make tough choices, more people, especially the poor, and the environment will continue to pay the price," he warned.