Currently the water resources at global scale are stressed due to over exploitation. Water demands like for agriculture, industry and domestic use are increasing day by day. One of the main reason for this urbanization and population growth.
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| Trends in Global Urbanization |
Demand loads are exceeding the available supplies
Average renewable water : ca 2000 m3
Per person and year (Engelman, LeRoy, 1993)
Substantial part of which is used by ecosystems
Amount remained for human use: ca 1000 m3
1 000 000 L/person/year = 2740 L/person/day
Out of which:
69% is used for irrigation (- 1890 L/person/day)
23% is used by industry ( (- 630 L/person/day)
Only 8% remains for household use:
(i.e. 220 L/person/day)
Average household consumption in some areas in the world are as follows
USA: 700 L/p/day
Sweden: 200 L/p/day
Senegal: 29 L/p/day
Nomad in Sahara: 5 L/p/day
Severe Environmental/Ecological issues are severe
Due to the incoming pollution and unplanned water activities (e.g. unplanned damming affecting natural river flows too much) at the up streams the biodiversity is depleting slowly in Mekong , Amazon and Indus river basins and other problems like intrusion of sea water in delta ect. are resulting.
Policy and institutional issues are complicated
Harmony in water use policies for different purposes and among different stakeholders needs to be established. The situation became even more difficult to manage in situations when one river is crossing two or more international borders.
Fragmented and Sectoral Present approach
In most of the places in world, for different uses, water is managed by different departments which sometimes have entirely different and even contradicting goals. And no harmony in the policy exists.
Available choices are highly capital demanding
Water related structures are considered one of the costlier and time taking projects and with no immediate or near future results. Therefore a huge effort is required to establish the political will to invest in such projects.
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