A Portal on Sustainability

Water supplies

04.05.2005 · Research Group on the Global Future

The earth's surface is covered with enormous amounts of water - 1.4 million cubic kilometers. However, only about 2.6 percent is fresh water available for human usage. The other 97.4 percent is either sea water or brackish.
Worldwide, the consumption of fresh water is doubling every 20 years - more than twice the rate of the increase in human population. This consumption is placing enormous pressures on aquatic ecosystems. Today, 31 countries are facing water stress and scarcity and over a billion people lack adequate access to clean drinking water. By the year 2025, as much as two-thirds of the world's population may be living in conditions of serious water shortage and one-third may be living in conditions of absolute water scarcity. In many regions, scarce water resources and conflicts over water rights contribute to political disputes. The UN and the World Bank predict that if we do not change our pattern of water waste, by 2025 the demand for fresh water will rise by 56 percent more than is currently available.

UNEP's work + Our Planet: updated water issue, which complements the ones on fresh water and oceans. All three issues provide a load of information regarding water supplies, and seek answers to questions like what industry can contribute to safeguard fresh water sources. Articles show what our oceans and coasts are threatened by and how to save them.

Read the correlating parts of Agenda 21, or track the UN's argumentation that water has to be integrated into national economies, recognizing it as a social and economic good, vital for the satisfaction of basic human needs. At this site you may also find other useful documents by the Commission on Sustainable Development, decisions of the General Assembly, and links to other UN organizations concerned with freshwater issues. It also allows you to read national reports and find out what your country does to safeguard freshwater sources.

The Pacific Institute is an independent, non-profit center for studies in development, environment, and security conducts research and policy analysis in the areas of environment, sustainable development, and international security. Underlying all of the institute’s work is the recognition that a solution of the pressing problems requires an interdisciplinary perspective. The program on water and sustainability looks for practical solutions to California's problems related to water by using economic policies, efficient water technologies, and innovative public and private approaches. In addition to water issues, programs deal with economic globalization and environment, global change, and community strategies for sustainability and justice.