1.0 GLOBAL WATER CRISIS
Clean, plentiful water is infinitely precious which without, we could not survive. Yet we use our
waterways as a dumping ground for waste, pouring billions of tones of chemicals, metals and
organic pollutants into lakes, rivers and oceans every year. Almost two centuries ago, Benjamin
Franklin said that we do not know the true value of water until the well runs dry. Today, we
continue to ignore the vital importance of water while consuming more and more and not only is
the level of water in the global well getting low, the water is also polluted to the point where it is
no longer drinkable.
In today’s world, despite our own flaws of ignoring the responsibilities to take care of water
resources, many national, regional and international organizations along with a host of general
and special-interest non-governmental organizations launch vigorous campaigns to educate
people about problems of water scarcity and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) in almost
every part of the world. These organizations are also creating and putting into practice a variety
of active programs designed to solve problems of water shortages and lack of adequate WASH
facilities and practice.
It probably goes without saying, in terms of natural water resources, the availability of
freshwater is not even nearly distributed equally in various countries on Earth. For example,
citizens of the Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain have available to them an estimated 3 cubic
meters of freshwater. By comparison, the residents of Iceland have an estimated 525, 074 cubic
meters of freshwater per person (UNSD1, 2011). Figure 1 shows the amount of freshwater per
capita in various nations around the world.
1
The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), established in 1947, serves under the United Nations Department
of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) as the central mechanism within the Secretariat of the United Nations to
supply the statistical needs and coordinating activities of the global statistical system.
2
, Figure 1: World freshwater per capita estimation data obtained by calculating the countrywide precipitation
The interesting point about those data is that they do not necessarily reflect the likelihood that a
particular nation is or is not experiencing water issues. The United States would appear, for
example, to have a relatively large amount of water per capita available for daily uses despite
few arguments from other databases. Also the location of a country on or near the oceans does
not necessarily guarantee a ready supply of fresh water. The Bahamas, situated in the middle of
the Caribbean Sea, ranks low in the amount of freshwater available to its residents, a striking
contrast with landlocked Chad, in the middle of Africa, with more than 20 times as much as
freshwater per capita as Bahamas.
3
, Figure 2: Future prediction of global water stress established by World Resources Institute (WRI)
Figure 2 shows the measure of water depletion of surface water globally in the year range of
2020 to 2040. The ranking conducted by WRI using an ensemble of climate models and
socioeconomic scenarios. 14 of the 33 likely most water stressed countries in 2040 are in the
Middle East, including 9 considered extremely highly stressed with a stressed percentage of
above 90% which are Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi
Arabia, Oman and Lebanon. The region, already arguably the least water-secure in the world,
draws heavily upon groundwater and desalinated sea water, and faces exceptional water-related
challenges for the foreseeable future. With regional violence and political turmoil commanding
global attention, water may seem tangential. However, drought and water shortages in Syria
likely contributed to the unrest that stoked the country’s 2011 civil war. Dwindling water
resources and chronic mismanagement forced 1.5 million people, primarily farmers and herders,
to lose their livelihoods and leave their land, move to urban areas and magnify Syria’s general
destabilization.
4
Clean, plentiful water is infinitely precious which without, we could not survive. Yet we use our
waterways as a dumping ground for waste, pouring billions of tones of chemicals, metals and
organic pollutants into lakes, rivers and oceans every year. Almost two centuries ago, Benjamin
Franklin said that we do not know the true value of water until the well runs dry. Today, we
continue to ignore the vital importance of water while consuming more and more and not only is
the level of water in the global well getting low, the water is also polluted to the point where it is
no longer drinkable.
In today’s world, despite our own flaws of ignoring the responsibilities to take care of water
resources, many national, regional and international organizations along with a host of general
and special-interest non-governmental organizations launch vigorous campaigns to educate
people about problems of water scarcity and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) in almost
every part of the world. These organizations are also creating and putting into practice a variety
of active programs designed to solve problems of water shortages and lack of adequate WASH
facilities and practice.
It probably goes without saying, in terms of natural water resources, the availability of
freshwater is not even nearly distributed equally in various countries on Earth. For example,
citizens of the Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain have available to them an estimated 3 cubic
meters of freshwater. By comparison, the residents of Iceland have an estimated 525, 074 cubic
meters of freshwater per person (UNSD1, 2011). Figure 1 shows the amount of freshwater per
capita in various nations around the world.
1
The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), established in 1947, serves under the United Nations Department
of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) as the central mechanism within the Secretariat of the United Nations to
supply the statistical needs and coordinating activities of the global statistical system.
2
, Figure 1: World freshwater per capita estimation data obtained by calculating the countrywide precipitation
The interesting point about those data is that they do not necessarily reflect the likelihood that a
particular nation is or is not experiencing water issues. The United States would appear, for
example, to have a relatively large amount of water per capita available for daily uses despite
few arguments from other databases. Also the location of a country on or near the oceans does
not necessarily guarantee a ready supply of fresh water. The Bahamas, situated in the middle of
the Caribbean Sea, ranks low in the amount of freshwater available to its residents, a striking
contrast with landlocked Chad, in the middle of Africa, with more than 20 times as much as
freshwater per capita as Bahamas.
3
, Figure 2: Future prediction of global water stress established by World Resources Institute (WRI)
Figure 2 shows the measure of water depletion of surface water globally in the year range of
2020 to 2040. The ranking conducted by WRI using an ensemble of climate models and
socioeconomic scenarios. 14 of the 33 likely most water stressed countries in 2040 are in the
Middle East, including 9 considered extremely highly stressed with a stressed percentage of
above 90% which are Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi
Arabia, Oman and Lebanon. The region, already arguably the least water-secure in the world,
draws heavily upon groundwater and desalinated sea water, and faces exceptional water-related
challenges for the foreseeable future. With regional violence and political turmoil commanding
global attention, water may seem tangential. However, drought and water shortages in Syria
likely contributed to the unrest that stoked the country’s 2011 civil war. Dwindling water
resources and chronic mismanagement forced 1.5 million people, primarily farmers and herders,
to lose their livelihoods and leave their land, move to urban areas and magnify Syria’s general
destabilization.
4
