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CHAPTER 1

           The Drama of Water



           Water is life. It is a fundamental condition of human survival and   coupled with dramatically growing demands, are therefore likely
           dignity, and is the basis for the resilience of societies and of the   to exacerbate security problems related to future water use.
           natural environment. Unlike other natural resources, water has
           no substitute: the only substitute for water is water.  These alarming global realities can only be fully understood in
                                                              light of the limited quantity of water, the finite nature of water
           Scarcity                                           resources and the expected imbalances between different
                                                              regions of the world, as well as the rapidly sinking water tables
           Water is scarce: about two billion people still lack access to   in many of the world’s aquifers.
           safe drinking water. Most of them live in fragile, often violent
           regions of the world where water is a matter of life and death.   Freshwater represents only 2.53 percent of the total water of
           The growing imbalance in global water supply and demand   the world. Over two-thirds of this water (68.7 percent) is frozen
           leads to tensions and conflicts, and could potentially evolve into   in polar caps, continental ice sheets, permafrost and mountain
           a widespread threat to international peace and security. Water   glaciers. Liquid freshwater is primarily found underground
           deprivation is increasingly seen as a fundamentally political and   (more than 90 percent). Surface water in rivers and lakes (0.26
           security problem, and no longer simply as a problem of human   percent) and atmospheric water (0.04 percent) represent only a
           development and environmental sustainability.      small volume of total freshwater.
           Water and water scarcity are becoming serious security threats to   These figures need to be compared with the basic trends in
           a world with a growing population, facing human-induced climate   water consumption. The global availability of freshwater is
           change. By mid-century, close to four billion people – about 40   approximately 5500 cubic meters per person per year. This
           percent of the world’s population – will live in water-stressed   represents a decrease of 37 percent since 1970 and the number
           basins.  This  number  will  probably  grow  when  the  projected   is  shrinking  further.  While the size  of  the  world’s  population
           effects of climate change lead to diminished crop yields, while   has tripled in the past century, water withdrawal has increased
           triggering droughts, floods and other weather extremes. At the   by a factor of six. Attempts to increase availability of water
           same time, 40 percent of the world’s population lives in shared   resources through reconstitution processes, such as recharging
           river basins and aquifers that are areas of potential conflict.  groundwater  storages,  have  not  kept  pace  with  the  rate  of
                                                              discharge and exploitation.
           Water plays a key role in the climate systems. An overwhelming
           proportion of the physical impact of climate change is   Freshwater is also unevenly distributed around the world. Nine
           transmitted through water. In other words, water is the primary   countries – Brazil, Russia, the United States, Canada, China,
           medium through which climate change influences the Earth’s   Indonesia, India, Colombia and Peru – share 60 percent of the
           ecosystems  and  biological processes,  and  thus  the  livelihood   world’s water reserves. This is only one aspect of the uneven
           and well-being of societies. Higher temperatures and extreme   distribution of water. Asia accounts for 61 percent of the world’s
           weather conditions affect the temporal and spatial patterns of   population, but has only 36 percent of available water resources,
           rainfall, snowmelt, river flows and groundwater, and further   while Latin America, with 6 percent of the world population,
           deteriorate water quality. While the effects of climate change   has 26 percent. The Middle East and North Africa are the most
           are felt all over the world, their greatest impact is on the food   exposed to the dangers resulting from the scarcity of water and
           security and displacement of vulnerable groups in developing   severe water shortages. An additional problem arises when
           countries. The resulting rise in migration and uncontrolled   water resources are unevenly distributed within countries.
           urbanization will further increase pressure on already limited
           water resources.                                   It is widely accepted that water crises may be among the most
                                                              dangerous developments in the future. In 2015, the World
           Yet in the face of all these problems, humankind has to find ways   Economic Forum (WEF) concluded that global water crises
           to produce 50 percent more food in the next 25 years, as well   would be the biggest threat facing the planet in the next decade.
           as to double energy production. These activities require massive   In the WEF’s subsequent global risk reports, water crises have
           water resources – both in order to meet the needs of the growing   consistently  figured  among  the  highest  risks  for  the  coming
           population and to maintain environmental conditions critical for   fifteen years.
           the functioning of life support systems.

           Water scarcity adds enormous pressure to the existing
           competition among the uses of water, including human
           consumption, food production and irrigation, mining and
           manufacturing, energy production, and environmental services.
           This  inevitably  leads  to tensions. These  competing  needs,





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