Serious Water Shortage Worldwide

It is estimated that just under a billion people, almost one-fifth of the world's population, lack access to safe drinking water. A major sustainer of life, water, has being quoted as the source of the world's most deadliest health issues. The absence of sanitary domestic water and waterborne infections are known as the leading causes of death world-wide.

While 70% of the earth's surface is covered by water, 97.5% is salt water. About 70% of all freshwater is used for irrigation in agriculture. 60% of this is lost to evaporation, or returned to rivers and groundwater aquifers. World population, which was 6.2 billion in 2002, is estimated to increase to 7.2 billion people by 2015.

Some experts claim that world wars will be fought over water rights, when right-basis opposes need-basis. The lack of safe drinking water is not only a problem for lesser-developed countries, water is fast becoming one of the world’s largest headaches in urban areas in developed countries, producing everything from legal battles to severe financial consequences.

The Food and Agriculture Organization in 2003 claimed there was no water crisis. The United Nations report in 2006 stated there was enough water for everybody. The report said 'Water insufficiency is often due to mismanagement, corruption, lack of appropriate institutions, bureaucratic inertia and a shortage of investment in both human capacity and physical infrastructure'.

It is believed that approximately 5.5 billion people will live in areas facing moderate to severe water stress by 2025.

However, 24/7 Wall St the environmental research and sustainability group, Ceres and the National Resources Defense Council have declared that ten of the United State’s largest cities are under serious threat of running out of water in the relatively near-term future.

The three top cities under threat are:
The fastest growing city in America, Los Angeles, relies on importing water from the Colorado River via hundreds of miles of aqueducts.

Rated as an immediate risk for severe water shortages, Houston, Texas, located in a high drought area, draws its municipal water from nearby Lake Houston and Lake Conroe.

San Antonio, Texas, has been rated as the highest, by the National Resources Defense Council as having a non-sustainable water supply.

The recent spate of drought and severe water shortages in the dry continent of Australia has thrust the national agenda to consider a national population policy that will contain issues like very costly desalination plants, new dams and even recycled water.

The next time you gulp down a glass of water give it a second thought, as water could quickly become the focus of need-based and right-based conflict globally.