WATER SCARCITY

"Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink"
Samuel Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Water scarcity already affects every continent. Around 1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world's population, live in areas of physical scarcity, and 500 million people are approaching this situation. Another 1.6 billion people, or almost one quarter of the world's population, face economic water shortage (where countries lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers).

Water scarcity is among the main problems to be faced by many societies and the World in the XXIst century. Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, and, although there is no global water scarcity as such, an increasing number of regions are chronically short of water.

Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for six billion people but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.

Click on map to enlarge

Sources:

• Vital Water Graphics. UNEP
• Human Development Report 2006. UNDP, 2006
• Coping with water scarcity. Challenge of the twenty-first century. UN-Water, FAO. 2007

Water Scarcity and the MDGs

The way water scarcity issues are addressed impacts upon the successful achievement of most of the Millennium Development Goals.

Water stress versus water scarcity

Hydrologists typically assess scarcity by looking at the population-water equation. An area is experiencing water stress when annual water supplies drop below 1 700 m3 per person. When annual water supplies drop below 1 000 m3 per person, the population faces water scarcity, and below 500 cubic metres "absolute scarcity".

Water scarcity is defined as the point at which the aggregate impact of all users impinges on the supply or quality of water under prevailing institutional arrangements to the extent that the demand by all sectors, including the environment, cannot be satisfied fully. Water scarcity is a relative concept and can occur at any level of supply or demand. Scarcity may be a social construct (a product of affluence, expectations and customary behaviour) or the consequence of altered supply patterns - stemming from climate change for example.

Sources:

• Vital Water Graphics. UNEP
• Coping with water scarcity. Challenge of the twenty-first century. UN-Water, FAO. 2007

Did you know?

• Around 700 million people in 43 countries suffer today from water scarcity.
• By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions.
• With the existing climate change scenario, almost half the world's population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030, including between 75 million and 250 million people in Africa. In addition, water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places will displace between 24 million and 700 million people.
• Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of water-stressed countries of any region.

UN initiatives that are helping to raise the issue...

• World Water Day 2007: Coping with water scarcity
  World Water Day 2007 was dedicated to the theme "Coping with water scarcity". It highlighted the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide and the need for increased integration and cooperation to ensure sustainable, efficient and equitable management of scarce water resources, both at international and local levels.

To know more

Water scarcity and desertification. UNCCD. 2009 [ - 528 KB]

This paper introduces the main challenges and threats of water scarcity to dryland populations and the role of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification with regard to Sustainable Land and Water Resources Management.

Drought, Desertification and Water Scarcity. ISDR. 2007 [ - 2.04 MB]

This document gives an overview of literature covering drought, desertification and water scarcity.

Coping with water scarcity. Challenge of the twenty-first century. UN-Water, FAO. 2007 [ - 458 KB]

Produced on the occasion of World Water Day 2007, which focused on the issue of water scarcity, this document introduces the multiple dimensions of water scarcity and how it can affect all social and economic sectors and threaten the sustainability of the natural resources base.

Coping with water scarcity. A strategic issue and priority for system-wide action. UN-Water. 2006 [ - 474 KB]

UN-Water has identified coping with water scarcity as part of the strategic issues and priorities requiring joint action. This note presents the UN-Water joint plan of action (PoA) for this thematic initiative and describes its elements. It also provides different examples of the ways in which coping with water scarcity can affect the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Human Development Report 2006. Chapter 4. UNDP, 2006 [ - 1.59 MB]

Chapter 4 of the Human Development Report 2006 focuses on water scarcity, risk and vulnerability related issues.

Challenges of Water Scarcity: A Business Case for Financial Institutions. UNEP-FI, SIWI 2005 [ - 2.02 MB]

This report, based on a review of close to 20 cases of projects and investments mainly in Africa and Latin America, and supplemented with interviews with practitioners from both development and commercial financial institutions, concludes that there is a business case for improving risk management tools, which can specifically be related to the risks borne by water scarcity. While each organization must relate to water in its own capacity, the business case for the financial sector comes from acknowledging the potential risks associated with water scarcity and seeking possible opportunities for mitigating these risks.

Water scarcity around the world

Africa

Making the Most of Scarcity. Accountability for Better Water Management Results in the Middle East and North Africa. World Bank. 2007 [ - 428 MB]

This report addresses the issues of the political economy of water reform and stresses the importance of "beyond the sector" policies. It analyzes the factors that drive the political economy of water reform and shows how some of them are changing in the MENA region in ways that could open up opportunities for water reform. The report discusses how the challenges and opportunities of the increasingly global economy may change the dynamics of water policy and how the changing demographics of the region (such as rapid urbanization, and increased education levels) might affect demand for water services.

Executive summary. Making the Most of Scarcity. Accountability for Better Water Management Results in the Middle East and North Africa. World Bank. 2007 [ - 141 KB]

Asia

Sectoral water allocation policies in selected ESCWA member countries. An evaluation of the economic, social and drought-related impact. UNESCWA. 2003 [ - 588 KB]

It is intended that this study constitute both a reference document for policy- and decision-making processes relating to the management of water supplies in the ESCWA region, and an evaluation tool for decisions that have already been made regarding the allocation of water resources to various sectors. As such, its beneficiaries will be primarily policy and decision makers involved in the daily management of the ESCWA region's diminishing water resources. It is hoped that the study will also be of use to other professionals in the field, and will inform the general public on the issues surrounding sectoral water allocation and how optimal allocation can ensure sustainable, equitable and efficient use of the region's water resources.

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