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The crisis of our diminishing water resources is just as severe (if less obviously immediate) as any wartime crisis we have ever faced. Our survival is just as much at stake as it was at the time of Pearl Harbor, or the Argonne, or Gettysburg, or Saratoga.

Although two thirds of our planet is water, we face an acute water shortage. The water crisis is the most pervasive , most severe, and most invisible dimension of the ecological devastation of the earth.

There is simply no way to overstate the water crisis of the planet today.

The two defining issues of this century are both universal but felt locally: the global water crisis and the resources boom.

I have seen water availability change drastically in my own lifetime. Around the world, millions of people are already living in a true water crisis.

Poverty feeds into the clean-water crisis, which contributes to hunger, and so on. There's undeniable interconnectivity among these issues. Just one of these problems can be deadly on its own, but in the most disadvantaged areas there is a perfect storm of problems. And it takes its greatest toll on children.

Sometimes we don't face what's going on in our world, be it a water crisis or an earth crisis, because it's a little too scary and painful. Just like we don't want to face the parts of ourselves that are a little too uncomfortable or painful. We've gotta face both and love both so that we can heal both.

For me, what I see happening in this [clean water] crisis is deterioration of the family. It is deterioration of our health.

In Cuba, what we do not accept is the comparison of our participatory democracy with bourgeois democracy which has not solved anything for humanity. The only thing it has done is to take humanity towards a precarious point. They have created the environmental crisis, the food crisis, the water crisis and the pandemics all over the world. The reason for that is because they have taken the majority of the resources and given it to militarism paid for by the western powers because it is a great business for them; this is the real truth.

Flint is a city of a hundred thousand that was having a rough go of it even before its water was poisoned by lead. And when the water crisis finally grabbed national headlines this winter, the Democratic presidential candidates noticed. Hillary Clinton sent senior staff to investigate and asked her supporters to donate to a fund for Flint's kids. Bernie Sanders called on Michigan's Republican governor, Rick Snyder, to resign.

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55 Slogans On Saving Water + Popular Save Water Quotes

Sustainable Lifestyle , Quotes and Slogans

One of World Water Day’s slogans on saving water this year is “ Water for Peace” . It’s a powerful message that is more important than ever before. Billions of people are living without access to safe drinking water right now. There is an urgent need for accelerated efforts for countries to work together, to manage shared water resources sustainably.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Education and awareness play a huge role in the conservation of water. One of the ways to spread awareness is via engaging quotes and slogans on saving water . Getting the message out, and taking action is pivotal to making a difference. From reducing our waste at home , being mindful of our water and carbon footprint , and advocating for policymakers to put water and climate change at the forefront, each person can make a difference. If you want to be inspired and motivated to create change, watch these sustainable documentaries .

Table of Contents

What is the meaningful slogan on saving water.

The slogan, “Conserve Water, Preserve Life” highlights the critical importance of water conservation for sustaining life on Earth. By using water responsibly and reducing waste, we ensure that this vital resource remains available for future generations. 

What is the slogan on save water activity?

“Act Now: Save Water, Secure Our Future” underscores the urgency of immediate action in water conservation efforts. It calls for proactive measures to protect our water supplies, emphasizing the long-term benefits of sustainable practices.

What is a famous quote about water?

“Water is the driving force of all nature.” – Leonardo da Vinci

What is a rhyming slogan for water?

“Save Water, Save Earth – Value Its Worth” is a great rhyming slogan that emphasizes the essential role water plays in sustaining our planet. By conserving water, we protect ecosystems, support biodiversity, and ensure a healthy environment for future generations. This slogan encourages us to recognize and appreciate the true value of water in maintaining Earth’s vitality.

What is the slogan for keeping water clean?

“Keep It Clear, Keep It Clean – Healthy Water is a Healthy Planet.”

What is a slogan for save water?

Conserve the flow, let the future grow. – The Dharma Trails

What is a save water quote?

“Water is the silent guardian of our future, a priceless gift that keeps life going. In every drop lies the promise of tomorrow; let us cherish and preserve it for the generations yet to come.” – The Dharma Trails

World Water Day

Since 1993, World Water Day has been held on the 22nd of March each year, to raise awareness of the global water crisis. Each year there is a different theme with associated slogans on saving water, to help spread awareness of the current water issues. Here are some of the recent themes of World Water Day:

• 2017’s theme was “Why waste water”, bringing awareness to treating and reusing wastewater.
• 2018’s theme was “Nature for Water” which explored some of the nature-based solutions to our water challenges.
• 2019’s theme was “Leaving No One Behind”. This was an adaptation of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, as sustainable development progresses, everyone must benefit.
• 2020’s theme was “Water and Climate Change”. We cannot afford to wait. Everyone has a role to play.
• 2021’s theme was “Valuing Water”, highlighting the importance of conserving water and its value.
• 2022’s theme was “Groundwater, making the invisible visible”, promoting information sharing and collaboration, and raising awareness of the need to protect our groundwater.
• 2023’s theme was “Accelerating Change”, highlighting the need to speed up efforts to create sustainable water management practices.
• 2024’s World Water Day theme is “Leveraging Water for Peace”, emphasising the urgent need for more transboundary water cooperation.

Best Slogans on Saving Water

• “Don’t be the leak in our global flow.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Conserve the flow, let the future grow.” – The Dharma Trails
• “From rivers to taps, let’s bridge the water gaps.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Let’s not wait, conserve water before it’s too late.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Skip the drip, do your bit.” – The Dharma Trails
• “You can’t wash the waste from your hands when it’s all gone.” – The Dharma Trails
• “One hamburger or three weeks of showers. What will you choose?” – The Dharma Trails
• “Caring for water is caring for us all.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Rich or poor in water. It’s the only currency that really matters.” – The Dharma Trails
• “One cotton t-shirt or 1,300 days of drinking water? It’s the same amount of water for both.” – The Dharma Trails

Want some save water slogans that rhyme? We’ve got some catchy slogans to help inspire you and your friends to preserve water.

Save Water Slogans That Rhyme

• “Water is nature’s daughter. She’s gentle and sweet. If you let her go, we lose the flow and end up in retreat.”
• “Reduce the power in your shower and save a buck or have good luck.”
• “The power of a tap is that it can trap. Because water will run until it’s all gone”
• “When you think beyond the sink, the world can drink and drink and drink.”
• “The future we steer, our water be clear, together we’ll have nothing to fear.”
• “A drop a day wastes the water away.”
• “ Save water today or tomorrow you’ll pay.”
• “We need to hydrate, for that is our fate. Together let’s keep the water first-rate.”
• “Life’s too short to waste it. Every plant, dog and friend just wants to taste it.”
• “Time to care before streams are bare.”
• “We can’t drink dust, dirt, oil or rust. But water. Well, that’s a must.”
• “Drip, drop, drip, drop. This kind of clock must be stopped.”
• “Eat Vegan at the cafe to save water today”
• “ Wasting water away is not okay”
• “You have the power to shorten your shower”
• “It’s time to care before the water is rare”
• “Don’t get a bad rap for keeping a leak in your tap”
• “Wasting water today will turn streams into clay”
• “It’s time to care before water evaporates into thin air”
• “Be water smart from the start, play your part.”
• “Drop by drop, let’s make the water waste stop.”
• “Leaks are bleak, conservation we seek.”

– The Dharma Trails

Short Slogans on Saving Water

• “Keep the rivers clean & earth evergreen.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Not too late to save water’s fate.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Tread lightly. Reduce your Water Footprint.” – The Dharma Trails
• “If you save water, water will save you” – India Celebrating
• “Save each drop, make wastage stop.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Think blue, act green, keep water clean.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Use less, save more, keep water pure.” – The Dharma Trails
• “Save water today, secure tomorrow’s play.” – The Dharma Trails

Save Water Quotes

It has long been known that the key to life and our health is water. Save water quotes inspire environmental action by highlighting the importance of conserving this vital resource. These have been the most influential saving water quotes over the history of our time. By spreading awareness through powerful words, we can motivate individuals and communities to adopt sustainable practices and protect our planet’s future.

• “Water is the driving force of all nature.” – Leonardo Da Vincci
• “All the water that will ever be is, right now.” – National Geographic
• “Rain is a blessing when it falls gently on parched fields, turning the earth green, causing the birds to sing.” – Donald Worster
• “Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart Udal
• “By means of water, we give life to everything.” – Koran
• “We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.” – Jacques Cousteau
• “We buy a bottle of water in the city, where clean water comes out in its taps. You know, back in 1965, if someone said to the average person, ‘You know in thirty years you are going to buy water in plastic bottles and pay more for that water than for gasoline?’ Everybody would look at you like you’re completely out of your mind.” – Paul Watson
• “The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water.” – Ismail Serageldin
• “A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure.” – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
• “The fact of the matter is our homes are on the frontlines when it comes to protecting and conserving our critical water resources – more than that, they are also key to protecting our health.” – Philippe Cousteau Jr.
• “ Bright futures begin with clean water.” – The Water Project
• “A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself.” – Laura Gilpin
• “Water links us to our neighbor in a way more profound and complex than any other.” – John Thorson
• “Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.” – Jacques Cousteau
• “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” – W.H. Auden
• “When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water.” – Benjamin Franklin
• “This is not a natural crisis. This is a man-made crisis.” – Ernie Barnett
• “Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• “Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.” – Carl Sagan
• “Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children’s lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land.” – Luna Leopold
• “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” – Coleridge
• “Globalization was supposed to break down barriers between continents and bring all peoples together. But what kind of globalization do we have with over one billion people on the planet not having safe water to drink?” – Mikhail Gorbachev
• “Water is critical for sustainable development, including environmental integrity and the alleviation of poverty and hunger, and is indispensable for human health and well-being.” – United Nations

These save water quotes are just for laughs:

• “ Save Water, drink beer “
• “ Save Water, drink coconuts”
• “Shower shorter, water hoarder.”

Slogans on Saving Water in Hindi

• पानी की रक्षा है देश की सुरक्षा
• जब जल रहेगा तभी तो हमारा कल रहेगा
•  जल बचाए और अपना कल बचाए
• पानी को बचाओगे, अपने जीवन को बचाओगे
• हम अपने भविष्य को सुरक्षित कर, जल बचाये, जीवन बचाये

Slogans on Water Pollution

Reducing water pollution is crucial for maintaining clean water and protecting ecosystems. By preventing contaminants from entering our waterways, we ensure safe drinking water, support biodiversity, and promote public health. Here are some slogans on water pollution.

• Healthy Waterways, Healthy Lives.
• Guard Our Waters, Guard Our Future.
• Polluting a Stream, Pollutes a Dream.
• Pollution Prevention Begins with Education
• Stop the Spread, Keep Water Clean Instead.

Books about water conservation

Interested in learning more about the importance of water conservation? There are several excellent audiobooks and Kindle books available that go into further depth on the subject.

• The Worth of Water: From world-famous actor and founder of the non-profit Water.org Matt Damon explores the ways in which we can conserve water for greater world health.  All the author’s proceeds also go to the non-profit foundation.  Access with a free month trial .
• Water 4.0: The story of drinking water systems over millennia and how we can improve the systems going forward to be more efficient and caring with saving water for our future.  Access with a free month trial .
• Water: Up, Down, and All Around: A quick, catchy book that highlights important water facts and reasons we need to save it. Access with a free month trial.

Save Water Save Earth

Not only a great slogan on saving water, but Save Water, Save Earth is a movement. More and more people have become aware of the need for water conservation (for our future). These are sparking amazing new movements all around the world. Here are a couple of interesting ones from India recently.

Save Water Save Earth in India

• A competition in India (Maharashtra State) had a huge turn out of university students to physically carry buckets of soil to replace lost soil for water retention in the area.
• The Devine India Youth Association is cleaning up the rivers in India. They’re also managing polluted waterways and changing the way that sacred sites along river banks are used (washing, cleaning, offerings, etc.)

If you are interested in eco travel and volunteering at such organizations, it’s a great way to give back while traveling.

Essays on “save water save earth”

As part of the save water save earth movement, some great essays have been written. There are several at different lengths, depending on your available reading time and level of interest. Here are some Long and Short Essays on Save Wat​​er Save Earth (in English).

Using Slogans on Saving Water To Create Awareness

Humans are storytellers. We think in phrases. The ones that stick in our minds are often the catchy, cheesy ones, like sunset quotes or trending beach captions . However, these are also the ones that we pass on to others. Whether it’s consciously or subconsciously; slogans, quotes, rhymes, and lyrics come to the front of our minds and conversation much easier than we think. When you’re looking for your next sunset

Creating and spreading slogans for saving water might not sound like an “action”. But, it is. Never underestimate the power of words. Especially, catchy words.

Why Slogans on Saving Water Are So Effective

One of the best parts about slogans, is that they can play over and around your mind so often, that you start to believe what you’ve heard.

• You can start to think that the idea was yours, actually yours.  Therefore, act it out.
• They can hit an emotional chord. Emotional involvement or connection is where the idea of truly caring comes in.
• They can trigger a question of possibility.  Asking: what if? Is the best platform for taking action.

For example,

“Hope through Safe Water” – Water4Kids

It doesn’t tell you what they’re doing, or how they’re doing it. Though, it does trigger a point of interest and a feeling of intrigue. What are they doing to encourage hope? You just have to go to their site and find out.

But you can see how powerful a short phrase can be, especially when it comes to saving water.

Why Should I Save Water?

There is only a tiny amount of usable water. When looking at an image of our planet, it appears to be mostly blue. That’s water, yes. But much of our planet’s water is not “usable”.

• It’s salty. In fact, about 97% of the water is the ocean.
• About 3% is “fresh” water. However, most of that is unusable too. It’s either locked up in glaciers, icebergs or simply too polluted.
• Under 1% of all the world’s water is actually usable.  

There is a continuous “loop” that our water goes through. And the same water keeps being recycled, over and over.

The Water Cycle (Hydrologic Cycle):

• Rain (Precipitation)
• Evaporation (Oceans, Lakes, Ground Water, Plants)
• Condensation (Clouds)

So what difference does it make if water is wasted? It will just be evaporated, condensed and then come back down as rain again.

That’s true.

But accessing usable water is the issue. Getting water to your tap requires energy. The process, which will depend on where you are is a little like this:

• Collection or Extraction
• Transportation or Pumping
• Processing & Treatment
• More Transportation or Pumping

So,  if you waste useable water, you’re also wasting energy! Which, in most cases in non-renewable.

Why Do People Still Not Have Water?

Our life depends on water. People have known this for thousands of years. So why are there still people without access to clean water? It’s a great question and one that is at the forefront of many water conservation and water scarcity awareness campaigns. The answer, in short, is money & climate.

It costs money to:

• Collect the water
• Transport it
• Supply it to a pipe network (also build the pipe network)

Unless you collect your own rainwater, or live next to a flowing stream and can physically collect it yourself, you need money for clean water. As the earth’s population increases, water resources are spread thinner and thinner.

This often means that more money is required to provide more resources. At present “there are millions of families spending more than 20% of their income on water .”

Climate Change & Natural Disasters:

There’s no doubt that places on earth are being affected more than others. Periods of drought and significant change in weather patterns are having a significant effect on the world’s distribution of usable water.

How To Write Slogans on Saving Water

This doesn’t have to be just for kids. Creating your own, unique slogans on saving water can be invaluable for companies or brands that use water in daily practice.

If a garden nursery used slogan making as a team-building exercise, think of the possibilities to truly enhance the company’s water conservation.

By personalizing water conservation slogans specific to team members or in-house jokes, the slogans are much more likely to take hold. There might actually be a drop in overall water use each month. This could lead to reduced overheads through water rates.

Save Water Slogans For Kids

It’s a great way to encourage the thought process. Kids have a short attention span.

Keep things:

• interesting/rhyme
• personalized

And the thought-provoking actions will happen.

Like the nursery example, personalization could be applied to a classroom or even at home. Adapting a slogan to fit a child’s name or school or favorite TV show can really make it memorable. Slogans on saving water can really make a difference today!

How To Save Water For The Next Generation

Heading into the future, we need to seriously take water seriously.

A report on climate change by the United Nations (UN), indicated that 5 Billion people could be affected by water shortage in 2050.

Is water the new oil? Potentially. The more we educate, take action on conservation methods and provide support to those in need now, the better our liquid future will be.

Understanding And Adapting Your Water Footprint

One of the biggest misconceptions about water use is that: we’re only using the water we can “see”.

This is far from reality.

• About 70% of all water resources used by humans go to agriculture! Growing and producing our food.
• Approx. 20% is used by industry (to make our “stuff” – clothes, ovens, cars, phones, etc.)
• Approx. 10% is used in households (showers, washing clothes, drinking, etc.)

Each item we buy has some form of “water footprint”. This is the amount of water it took to make.

An egg – 200 litres/52 Gallons A hamburger – 2,450 litres/660 Gallons A smartphone – 12,000 litres/3,190 Gallons WaterCalculator.Org

How To Reduce Your Water Footprint

Making smarter choices about what we buy can have a huge positive impact and reduce our water footprint.

Change Your Diet – Reduce Your Meat Intake

Most of our water footprint is used up by food production. We can change what we eat. Making positive choices at each meal.

The meat industry uses most of the agricultural water. This covers the water required to grow feed, and the animals themselves. By reducing your meat intake, you can significantly reduce your water and energy footprint .

It takes a lot of water to make “things”. As per the number mentioned above. Consider buying less, to actually save water!

Or buy better.

• The fashion industry uses a lot of water. Try going for sustainable fashion options.
• Eco friendly toiletries are a good alternative.

Be Water Conscious At Home (& Out & About)

The amount of water we “use” at home is relatively low compared to our food and “stuff” footprint. However, every drop does count!

A single dripping tap can lose 7,500 litres/2,000 Gallons a year . Or enough drinking water for one person for 10 years. If you are going to stay somewhere when you travel, try using Eco Accommodation, with a focus on water conservation.

Learn how to reduce your water footprint while travelling , here!

Organisations Dedicated To Saving Water

More and more grassroots movements and organisations are popping up all the time. They are having a real, positive impact on communities. Here are some of the bigger organisations making a global impact:

• Wateraid: WaterAid is an amazing Non for Profit organisation operating in 28 countries. They positively impact millions of lives each year by providing clean water and toilets to those in need.
• Water.org: Empowering over 17 million people with access to clean water, Water.org (co-founded by the actor Matt Damon) has done an amazing job providing microfinancing for low-income families to purchase clean water.
• Charity Water: Through a variety of different methods, Charity Water collects donations and uses 100% of the money towards clean water projects in developing countries.

Join And Share Ideas On Saving Water

Have ideas for more Slogans on Saving Water? Or experience in the field with water conservation projects? Whether you have some more ideas on save water slogans that rhyme, or some catchy short slogans, we want to hear them!

For more great slogans, check out these save earth slogans , and tips for saying no to plastic .

Like This Article? Pin it!

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5 thoughts on “55 slogans on saving water + popular save water quotes”.

Thanks for this beautiful content of the ‘Save Water’ topic. I was looking for some similar information and this post will help me a lot.

Thanks! Glad it helped.

Hello.This article was extremely interesting, particularly because I was browsing for thoughts on this matter last Monday.

Hi, thanks for your comment! Always a good idea to save water whenever we can!

I am doing a project on water awareness and this helps!

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Water Stress: A Global Problem That’s Getting Worse

• Water scarcity happens when communities can’t fulfill their water needs, either because supplies are insufficient or infrastructure is inadequate. Today, billions of people face some form of water stress.
• Countries have often cooperated on water management. Still, there are a handful of places where transboundary waters are driving tensions, such as the Nile Basin.
• Climate change will likely exacerbate water stress worldwide, as rising temperatures lead to more unpredictable weather and extreme weather events, including floods and droughts.

Introduction

Billions of people around the world lack adequate access to one of the essential elements of life: clean water. Although governments and aid groups have helped many living in water-stressed regions gain access in recent years, the problem is projected to get worse due to global warming and population growth. Meanwhile, a paucity of international coordination on water security has slowed the search for solutions.

Water stress can differ dramatically from one place to another, in some cases causing wide-reaching damage, including to public health, economic development, and global trade. It can also drive mass migrations and spark conflict. Now, pressure is mounting on countries to implement more sustainable and innovative practices and to improve international cooperation on water management.

What is water stress?

• Food and Water Security
• Energy and Environment
• Infrastructure

Water stress or scarcity occurs when demand for safe, usable water in a given area exceeds the supply. On the demand side, the vast majority—roughly 70 percent—of the world’s freshwater is used for agriculture, while the rest is divided between industrial (19 percent) and domestic uses (11 percent), including for drinking. On the supply side, sources include surface waters, such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, as well as groundwater, accessed through aquifers.

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But scientists have different ways of defining and measuring water stress, taking into account a variety of factors including seasonal changes, water quality, and accessibility. Meanwhile, measurements of water stress can be imprecise, particularly in the case of groundwater. “Any numbers out there have to be taken with a grain of salt,” says Upmanu Lall , a Columbia University professor and water expert. “None of these definitions are typically accounting for groundwater usage, or groundwater stock.”

What causes water scarcity?

Water scarcity is often divided into two categories: physical scarcity, when there is a shortage of water because of local ecological conditions; and economic scarcity, when there is inadequate water infrastructure.

The two frequently come together to cause water stress. For instance, a stressed area can have both a shortage of rainfall as well as a lack of adequate water storage and sanitation facilities. Experts say that even when there are significant natural causes for a region’s water stress, human factors are often central to the problem, particularly with regard to access to clean water and safe sanitation. Most recently, for example, the war in Ukraine damaged critical infrastructure, leaving six million people with limited or no access to safe water in 2022.

“Almost always the drinking water problem has nothing to do with physical water scarcity,” says Georgetown University’s Mark Giordano , an expert on water management. “It has to do with the scarcity of financial and political wherewithal to put in the infrastructure to get people clean water. It’s separate.”

At the same time, some areas that suffer physical water scarcity have the infrastructure that has allowed life there to thrive, such as in Oman and the southwestern United States.

A variety of authorities, from the national level down to local jurisdictions, govern or otherwise influence the water supply. In the United States, more than half a dozen federal agencies deal with different aspects of water: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces regulations on clean water, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) prepares for and responds to water disasters . Similar authorities exist at the state and local levels to protect and oversee the use of water resources, including through zoning and rehabilitation projects.

Which regions are most water-stressed?

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the worst off in terms of physical water stress, according to most experts. MENA receives less rainfall than other regions, and its countries tend to have fast-growing, densely populated urban centers that require more water. But many countries in these regions, especially wealthier ones, still meet their water needs. For example, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) imports nearly all of its food, alleviating the need to use water for agriculture. The UAE and other wealthy MENA countries also rely heavily on the desalination of abundant ocean water, albeit this process is an expensive, energy-intensive one.

Meanwhile, places experiencing significant economic scarcity include Central African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo , which receives a lot of rain but lacks proper infrastructure and suffers from high levels of mismanagement.

Even high-income countries experience water stress. Factors including outdated infrastructure and rapid population growth have put tremendous stress on some U.S. water systems , causing crises in cities including Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey.

How is climate change affecting water stress?

For every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in the global average temperature, UN experts project a 20 percent drop in renewable water resources. Global warming is expected to increase the number of water-stressed areas and heighten water stress in already affected regions. Subtropical areas, such as Australia, the southern United States, and North African countries, are expected to warm and suffer more frequent and longer droughts; however, when rainfall does occur in these regions, it is projected to be more intense. Weather in tropical regions will likewise become more variable, climate scientists say.

Agriculture could become a particular challenge. Farming suffers as rainfall becomes more unpredictable and rising temperatures accelerate the evaporation of water from soil. A more erratic climate is also expected to bring more floods, which can wipe out crops an overwhelm storage systems. Furthermore, rainfall runoff can sweep up sediment that can clog treatment facilities and contaminate other water sources.

In a 2018 report , a panel consisting of many of the world’s top climate researchers showed that limiting global warming to a maximum 1.5°C (2.7°F) above preindustrial levels—the aim of the Paris Agreement on climate—could substantially reduce the likelihood of water stress in some regions, such as the Mediterranean and southern Africa, compared to an unchecked increase in temperature. However, most experts say the Paris accord will not be enough to prevent the most devastating effects of climate change.

What are its impacts on public health and development?

Prolonged water stress can have devastating effects on public health and economic development. More than two billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water; and nearly double that number—more than half the world’s population—are without adequate sanitation services . These deprivations can spur the transmission of diseases such as cholera, typhoid, polio, hepatitis A, and diarrhea.

At the same time, because water scarcity makes agriculture much more difficult, it threatens a community’s access to food. Food-insecure communities can face both acute and chronic hunger, where children are more at risk of conditions stemming from malnutrition, such as stunting and wasting, and chronic illnesses due to poor diet, such as diabetes.

Even if a water-stressed community has stable access to potable water, people can travel great lengths or wait in long lines to get it—time that could otherwise be spent at work or at school. Economists note these all combine [PDF] to take a heavy toll on productivity and development.

Living in a Water-Stressed World

A housing development lies on the edge of Cathedral City, a desert resort town in southern California, in April 2015.

Eleven-year-old Chikuru carries water in a plastic jerrican, which weighs about forty pounds when full, to her home in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, in September 2019.

The water level at Camlidere Dam in the Turkish capital of Ankara is low due to seasonal drought and high water consumption amid the COVID-19 pandemic, November 2020.

A young boy washes a cooking pot in a pool of rainwater outside a slum where members of the Muhamasheen minority group live in Sanaa, Yemen, July 2020.

Abdel-Shaheed Gerges, a farmer, touches water flowing through a government-developed irrigation channel in Esna, Egypt, in October 2019.

Summer Weeks bathes her two-year-old daughter, Ravynn, outside their home in the Navajo Nation in Arizona, September 2020.

A worker waters turf at a sprawling horse-racing facility in Dubai in March 2021.

A woman collects water from a well dug in the Black Umfolozi Riverbed, which is dry due to drought, outside of Durban, South Africa, in January 2016.

The shadow of a girl who fled Raqqa is cast on the wall of a water spigot at a camp for internally displaced people in Syria, August 2017.

Kevin Dudley carries his daughter, Katelyn, and bottles of water to his apartment amid weeks-long water outages across Jackson, Mississippi, in March 2021.

A woman uses swamp water to wash clothes in northern Jakarta, Indonesia, in March 2018.

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened the need for safe water access. Handwashing is one of the most effective tools for combating the coronavirus, but health experts noted that three in ten individuals —2.3 billion people globally—could not wash their hands at home at the pandemic’s onset.

How has water factored into international relations?

Many freshwater sources transcend international borders, and, for the most part, national governments have been able to manage these resources cooperatively. Roughly three hundred international water agreements have been signed since 1948. Finland and Russia, for example, have long cooperated on water-management challenges, including floods, fisheries, and pollution. Water-sharing agreements have even persisted through cross-border conflicts about other issues, as has been the case with South Asia’s Indus River and the Jordan River in the Middle East.

However, there are a handful of hot spots where transboundary waters are a source of tension, either because there is no agreement in place or an existing water regime is disputed. One of these is the Nile Basin, where the White and Blue Nile Rivers flow from lakes in East Africa northward to the Mediterranean Sea. Egypt claims the rights to most of the Nile’s water based on several treaties, the first dating back to the colonial era; but other riparian states say they are not bound to the accords because they were never party to them. The dispute has flared in recent years after Ethiopia began construction of a massive hydroelectric dam that Egypt says drastically cuts its share of water.

Transboundary water disputes can also fuel intrastate conflict; some observers note this has increased in recent years , particularly in the hot spots where there are fears of cross-border conflict. For example, a new hydropower project could benefit elites but do little to improve the well-being of the communities who rely on those resources.

Moreover, water stress can affect global flows of goods and people. For instance, wildfires and drought in 2010 wiped out Russian crops, which resulted in a spike in commodities prices and food riots in Egypt and Tunisia at the start of the Arab uprisings. Climate stress is also pushing some to migrate across borders. The United Nations predicts that without interventions in climate change, water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions will displace hundreds of millions of people by 2030.

What are international organizations and governments doing to alleviate water stress?

There has been some international mobilization around water security. Ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , a sweeping fifteen-year development agenda adopted by member states in 2015. Smart water management is also vital to many of the other SDGs, such as eliminating hunger and ensuring good health and well-being. And while the Paris Agreement on climate does not refer to water explicitly, the United Nations calls [PDF] water management an “essential component of nearly all the mitigation and adaptation strategies.” The organization warns of the increasing vulnerability of conventional water infrastructure, and points to many climate-focused alternatives, such as coastal reservoirs and solar-powered water systems.

However, there is no global framework for addressing water stress, like there is for fighting climate change or preserving biodiversity . The most recent UN summit on water, held in March 2023, was the first such conference since 1977 and didn’t aim to produce an international framework. It instead created a UN envoy on water and saw hundreds of governments, nonprofits, and businesses sign on to a voluntary Water Action Agenda, which analysts called an important but insufficient step compared to a binding agreement among world governments.

Some governments and partner organizations have made progress in increasing access to water services: Between 2000 and 2017, the number of people using safely managed drinking water and safely managed sanitation services rose by 10 percent and 17 percent, respectively. In 2022, the Joe Biden administration announced an action plan to elevate global water security as a critical component of its efforts to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives. But the pace of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have presented new challenges. Now, many countries say they are unlikely to implement integrated water management systems by 2030, the target date for fulfilling the SDGs. 

Still, some governments are taking ambitious and creative steps to improve their water security that could serve as models for others:

Green infrastructure . Peruvian law mandates that water utilities reinvest a portion of their profits into green infrastructure (the use of plant, soil, and other natural systems to manage stormwater), and Canada and the United States have provided tens of millions of dollars in recent years to support Peru’s efforts [PDF]. Vietnam has taken similar steps to integrate natural and more traditional built water infrastructure.

Wastewater recycling . More and more cities around the globe are recycling sewage water into drinking water, something Namibia’s desert capital has been doing for decades. Facilities in countries including China and the United States turn byproducts from wastewater treatment into fertilizer.

Smarter agriculture . Innovations in areas such as artificial intelligence and genome editing are also driving progress. China has become a world leader in bioengineering crops to make them more productive and resilient.

Recommended Resources

The Wilson Center’s Lauren Risi writes that water wars between countries have not come to pass, but subnational conflicts over the resource are already taking a toll.

CFR’s Why It Matters podcast talks to Georgetown University’s Mark Giordano and the Global Water Policy Project’s Sandra Postel about water scarcity .

The World Economic Forum describes the growing water crisis in the Horn of Africa, while National Geographic looks at how the prolonged drought is pushing wildlife closer to towns.

The World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct maps the areas facing extremely high water stress.

The United Nations shares facts about water and its role in all aspects of life.

BuzzFeed News interviews residents of Jackson, Mississippi , who lost access to safe water after freezing temperatures wreaked havoc on the city’s decaying infrastructure.

• Sustainable Development Goals (UN)

Emily Lieberman contributed to this Backgrounder. Michael Bricknell and Will Merrow helped create the graphics.

• What are its impacts on health and development?
• What is being done to alleviate water stress?

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Water Scarcity — Water Crisis: Understanding the Causes and Seeking Solutions

Water Crisis: Understanding The Causes and Seeking Solutions

• Categories: Environmental Issues Water Scarcity

About this sample

Words: 1019 |

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 1019 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Causes of the water crisis, consequences of the water crisis, seeking solutions to the water crisis.

• Invest in water storage, distribution, and treatment infrastructure.
• Implement smart technologies for monitoring and controlling water usage.
• Promote efficient water allocation and pricing mechanisms.
• Encourage farmers to adopt precision agriculture techniques.
• Promote the use of drought-resistant crop varieties.
• Implement efficient irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation.
• Reduce excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides.
• Promote water conservation at the individual and community levels.
• Fix water leaks and encourage the use of low-flow appliances.
• Educate the public on water-saving habits.
• Invest in advanced wastewater treatment facilities.
• Implement stricter regulations on industrial and agricultural wastewater discharge.
• Promote the recycling and reuse of treated wastewater (water reclamation).
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable energy sources.
• Support afforestation and reforestation efforts to maintain water catchment areas.
• Develop and implement climate-resilient water management strategies.
• ABC News. (2019). Chennai's the latest city to have almost run out of water, and other cities could follow suit. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06- 22/chennais-telling-the-globe-a-story-about-water-scarcity/11229084
• Ceranic, I. (2018). Perth rainfall is higher than Melbourne, Hobart, London despite reputation for sunny beaches. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018- 04-24/perth-rainfall-higher-than-melbourne-hobart-and-london/9688142
• Green Water Plumbing. (2019). Water Crisis: Is Australia Running Out of Water? Retrieved from https://www.greenplanetplumbing.com.au/water-crisis-is- australia-running-out-of-water/
• Juneja, P. (n.d.). The Economic Impact of Cape Town’s Water Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/economic-impact-of-cape-town-water- crisis.htm
• Qureshi, M. E.; Hanjra, Munir A.; Ward, J. (2013). Impact of water scarcity in Australia on global food security in an era of climate change. Food Policy, 38:136-145. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.11.003
• Thirumurthy, P. The News Minute. (2019). Chennai water crisis: Schools closes down for junior classes, others declare half-day. Retrieved from https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/chennai-water-crisis-school-closes-down- junior-classes-others-declare-half-day-103919
• United Nations. (2014). Water for Life Decade: Water scarcity. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml
• Wright, I. (2017). This is what Australia’s growing cities need to do to avoid running dry. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-australias-growing-cities- need-to-do-to-avoid-running-dry-86301
• Lakshmi, K. (2019). Chennai’s Day Zero: It’s not just meteorology but mismanagement that’s made the city run dry. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/sci- tech/energy-and-environment/chennais-day-zero-its-not-just-meteorology-but- mismanagement-thats-made-the-city-run-dry/article28197491.ece

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Water Conservation Essay

500+ words essay on water conservation.

Water makes up 70% of the earth as well as the human body. There are millions of marine species present in today’s world that reside in water. Similarly, humankind also depends on water. All the major industries require water in some form or the other. However, this precious resource is depleting day by day. The majority of the reasons behind it are man-made only. Thus, the need for water conservation is more than ever now. Through this water conservation essay, you will realize how important it is to conserve water and how scarce it has become.

Water Scarcity- A Dangerous Issue

Out of all the water available, only three per cent is freshwater. Therefore, it is essential to use this water wisely and carefully. However, we have been doing the opposite of this till now.

Every day, we keep exploiting water for a variety of purposes. In addition to that, we also keep polluting it day in and day out. The effluents from industries and sewage discharges are dispersed into our water bodies directly.

Moreover, there are little or no facilities left for storing rainwater. Thus, floods have become a common phenomenon. Similarly, there is careless use of fertile soil from riverbeds. It results in flooding as well.

Therefore, you see how humans play a big role in water scarcity. Living in concrete jungles have anyway diminished the green cover. On top of that, we keep on cutting down forests that are a great source of conserving water.

Nowadays, a lot of countries even lack access to clean water. Therefore, water scarcity is a real thing. We must deal with it right away to change the world for our future generations. Water conservation essay will teach you how.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Water Conservation Essay – Conserving Water

Life without water is not possible. We need it for many things including cleaning, cooking, using the washroom, and more. Moreover, we need clean water to lead a healthy life.

We can take many steps to conserve water on a national level as well as an individual level. Firstly, our governments must implement efficient strategies to conserve water. The scientific community must work on advanced agricultural reforms to save water.

Similarly, proper planning of cities and promotion of water conservation through advertisements must be done. On an individual level, we can start by opting for buckets instead of showers or tubs.

Also, we must not use too much electricity. We must start planting more trees and plants. Rainwater harvesting must be made compulsory so we can benefit from the rain as well.

Further, we can also save water by turning off the tap when we brush our teeth or wash our utensils. Use a washing machine when it is fully loaded. Do not waste the water when you wash vegetables or fruit, instead, use it to water plants.

All in all, we must identify water scarcity as a real issue as it is very dangerous. Further, after identifying it, we must make sure to take steps to conserve it. There are many things that we can do on a national level as well as an individual level. So, we must come together now and conserve water.

FAQ of Water Conservation Essay

Question 1: Why has water become scarce?

Answer 1: Water has become scarce due to a lot of reasons most of which are human-made. We exploit water on a daily basis. Industries keep discharging their waste directly into water bodies. Further, sewage keeps polluting the water as well.

Question 2: How can we conserve water?

Answer 2: The government must plan cities properly so our water bodies stay clean. Similarly, water conservation must be promoted through advertisements. On an individual level, we can start by fixing all our leaky taps. Further, we must avoid showers and use buckets instead to save more water.

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• The Water Crisis

The power of water

Water connects every aspect of life. Access to safe water and sanitation can quickly turn problems into potential – empowering people with time for school and work, and contributing to improved health for women, children, and families around the world. 

Today, 2.2 billion people – 1 in 4 – lack access to safe water and 3.5 billion people – 2 in 5 – lack access to a safe toilet. These are the people we empower.

Learn more about the global water crisis >

Learn more about the global sanitation crisis >

A women's crisis

Women are disproportionately affected by the water crisis, as they are often responsible for collecting water. This takes time away from work, school and caring for family. The lack of water and sanitation locks women in a cycle of poverty. 

Empowering women is critical to solving the water crisis. When women have access to safe water at home, they can pursue more beyond water collection and their traditional roles. They have time to work and add to their household income. 

Learn how the water crisis affects women >

Women and children bear the primary responsibility for water collection.

A health crisis

The water crisis is a health crisis. More than 1 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases which could be reduced with access to safe water or sanitation. Every 2 minutes a child dies from a water-related disease. Access to safe water and sanitation contributes to improved health and helps prevent the spread of infectious disease. It means reduced child and maternal mortality rates. It means reduced physical injury from constant lifting and carrying heavy loads of water. Now more than ever, access to safe water is critical to the health of families around the world.

Read why the water crisis is a health crisis >

A children's and education crisis

Children are often responsible for collecting water for their families. This takes time away from school and play. Access to safe water and sanitation changes this. Reductions in time spent collecting water have been found to increase school attendance, especially for girls. Access to safe water gives children time to play and opportunity for a bright future.

See how the water crisis affects children and their education >

Reductions in time spent collecting water increases school attendance, especially for girls.

An economic crisis

Time spent gathering water or seeking safe sanitation accounts for billions in lost economic opportunities. $260 billion is lost globally each year due to lack of basic water and sanitation. Access to safe water and sanitation at home turns time spent into time saved, giving families more time to pursue education and work opportunities that will help them break the cycle of poverty.

Learn more about how the water crisis is an economic crisis >

A climate crisis

Water is the primary way in which we will feel many of the effects of climate change. Millions of families in poverty live in regions where water access is limited, temporary, or unstable. They are less prepared to face the effects of climate change like temperature extremes, floods, and droughts. Access to sustainable safe water and improved sanitation solutions can support climate resiliency for the people who need it the most.

Read more about the connection between climate change and water access >

By 2025, 50% of the world’s population is projected to live in water-stressed areas as a result of climate change, with low-income families bearing the greatest burden of this crisis.

• World Health Organization and UNICEF. (2023). Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene 2000-2022: Special focus on gender.
• World Health Organization and UNICEF. (2020). Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Schools: Special focus on COVID-19.
• UN-Water. (2019). Policy Brief on Climate Change and Water.
• World Health Organization and UNICEF. (2020). State of the World's Sanitation: An urgent call to transform sanitation for better health, environments, economies and societies.
• Hutton, G., and M. Varughese. (2020). Global and Regional Costs of Achieving Universal Access to Sanitation to Meet SDG Target 6.2.
• World Health Organization. (2019). Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene.
• World Health Organization, UNICEF, and World Bank. (2022). State of the world’s drinking water: an urgent call to action to accelerate progress on ensuring safe drinking water for all.
• WaterAid. (2021). Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery.

The water crisis affects millions around the world. Make an impact today.

• Slogans For Kids
• Slogans On Save Water

Slogans on Save Water

Water is one of the essential resources required for the existence of all living beings on planet Earth. Learning to use only what is required and preserving it is the only way to save water for our generations and the generations to come. In this article, you will come across the importance of saving water. There are also some catchy slogans on ‘save water’, which you can refer to write some slogans on your own. You can use them to create awareness among your fellow human beings, and together, you can take steps to preserve the water around you.

Table of Contents

Water and its importance, catchy slogans on save water, 5 slogans on save water, best slogans on save water, water slogans in english.

• FAQs on the Importance of Saving Water

Water is one of the most fundamental necessities of life. Water covers most of our planet and our body. Life would not be nearly possible without water.

Water is essential for the proper functioning of our kidneys and other functions of the body. It can be said that human beings can live even without food but can, in no way, exist without water. Water is the most vital nutrient for every cell and acts as a building block. It keeps the body hydrated and regulates the body temperature. There is a certain quantity of water intake that is required for healthy living; without which, a lot of abnormalities in body weight and diseases begin to change our lives for the worse.

Throughout history, there have been many issues over water resources between states and many movements to conserve and preserve water. With the changing global climate, it is the need of the hour to understand the importance of preserving our water resources to be able to live a long healthy life.

Save Water Slogans for You

Pondering over how to write catchy slogans on ‘Save Water’? Here are a few slogans on save water for your reference.

• Save blue. Live green.
• Preserve water, preserve life.
• Conserve water. Save a million lives.
• Think before you let it drip.
• Save the BLUE, so you don’t go blue. Save water. Save life.
• Save water. Save Earth.
• Drip, Drop, Drip, Drop. This clock must be stopped.
• Save water. The whole world depends on you.
• Save water today, secure your tomorrow.
• Save water, before it’s too late.
• The more water you waste, the lesser your life on Earth will be.
• Water is essential. Treasure it.
• A drop of water is all that a thirsty man needs.
• Save our water bodies. Save our planet.
• Save water. Make it a habit.
• You can’t wash your hands when it’s all gone. save water
• Conserve water. The future is in your hands
• The world is counting on you. Preserve water.
• One small step is all that it takes. Save water. Save our planet.
• Hand in hand, let’s preserve water and save our Mother Earth.
• Every drop counts.
• Life without water is impossible. Save water. Save life.
• With every little drop, a day less to live on Earth.
• Join the Blue Revolution to stop water pollution.
• Clean water. Healthy living.
• Just another drop to fill the cup.
• Come, let us stop one drop at a time.
• Water – Not a luxury but a necessity.
• A little care to stop the leak. Save water.
• We need the BLUE to keep the GREEN.
• Save yourself. Save water.
• No water. No life.
• Protect our water.
• Don’t let water run in the sink; our life is on the brink.
• Water is draining, start saving.
• Save water and water will save you.
• Stop the drip. Every drop counts.
• Water is Life.
• You depend on water. Water depends on you.
• Let’s save the water together.
• Pollute water, you pollute life.
• Never waste even a drop of water.
• No water, no life. No blue, no green.
• Hold your grip and stop that drip.
• Each one, teach the other one to spread the word and stop the curse. Save water, Save Earth.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Importance of Saving Water

What is a good slogan on save water.

A few examples of good slogans on saving water are given below:

What is the importance of writing slogans on save water?

Water is one of the most valuable natural resources of the planet we are living on and also one of the most vital nutrients a human body requires. It is crucial to preserve water for both our planet and ourselves, without which, life would almost be impossible. In order to make people aware of the need to conserve water, you can write slogans on save water and conduct campaigns that would help people to understand the need of the hour and act towards it.

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Essay on Water Crisis 500+ Words

Water, a life-sustaining resource, is essential for all living creatures on Earth. However, a water crisis is emerging as one of the most significant challenges humanity faces today. In this essay, we will explore the water crisis, its causes and consequences, and the critical need for sustainable solutions to ensure a better future for our planet.

The Growing Water Crisis

A water crisis refers to the scarcity of clean, fresh water needed for various purposes, such as drinking, agriculture, industry, and sanitation. It’s a global problem that affects people, ecosystems, and economies. According to the United Nations, by 2030, nearly half of the world’s population could be facing water scarcity.

Causes of the Water Crisis

a. Overpopulation : The world’s population is rapidly increasing, leading to higher water demand for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use.

b. Climate Change : Changing weather patterns, including prolonged droughts and more frequent extreme weather events, are affecting water availability.

c. Pollution : Water sources are often polluted by chemicals, sewage, and industrial waste, making water unsafe for consumption.

d. Wasteful Practices : Water wastage in agriculture, industry, and households contributes to the crisis.

Consequences of Water Scarcity

a. Health Issues : Lack of clean water leads to waterborne diseases like cholera and dysentery, affecting millions, especially children.

b. Food Insecurity : Agriculture heavily relies on water, and water scarcity can lead to crop failures and food shortages.

c. Conflict : Scarcity can trigger conflicts over limited water resources, leading to tensions between communities and even nations.

d. Ecosystem Damage : Wildlife and ecosystems suffer as water sources shrink, impacting biodiversity.

Sustainable Solutions to the Water Crisis

a. Water Conservation : Responsible water use, fixing leaks, and using water-saving appliances can make a significant difference.

b. Improved Infrastructure : Building and maintaining water supply and sanitation systems can help reduce water losses.

c. Rainwater Harvesting : Collecting rainwater for household use and agriculture can mitigate scarcity.

d. Desalination : Technology to turn seawater into freshwater is an option for regions with limited freshwater sources.

The Importance of Education

Education plays a vital role in raising awareness about the water crisis. Schools and communities can educate people about responsible water use, conservation, and the importance of preserving our water resources. Students can become water ambassadors, spreading the message about the need to protect our water.

Global Efforts to Combat Water Scarcity

International organizations like the United Nations and NGOs are working to address water scarcity on a global scale. They provide funding, expertise, and resources to implement sustainable water management practices in affected regions. Collaboration between countries and communities is key to finding solutions.

Conclusion of Essay on Water Crisis

In conclusion, the water crisis is a pressing global issue that affects people, ecosystems, and economies. Understanding its causes and consequences is the first step in finding solutions. It is essential for individuals, communities, and governments to take action by conserving water, improving infrastructure, and supporting sustainable practices. Education and global cooperation are vital in our fight against water scarcity.

By working together, we can ensure that future generations have access to the life-sustaining resource of clean, fresh water. Water is precious, and its conservation is our collective responsibility. As we address the water crisis, we are not only securing our own future but also safeguarding the health and well-being of our planet and all its inhabitants.

Also Check: The Essay on Essay: All you need to know

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Jennifer Hijazi Jennifer Hijazi

• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/a-poem-for-flint-four-years-after-the-water-crisis-began

A poem for Flint, four years after the water crisis began

Barely an hour’s drive from poet Tarfia Faizullah’s home in Michigan, the citizens of Flint were exposed for two years to high levels of toxic lead in their drinking water. Among those affected were between 6,000 to 12,000 children , who are particularly susceptible to the irreversible effects.

Photo courtesy of Graywolf Press

In Faizullah’s “I Told the Water,” she examines how water is both essential to life and often overlooked. It’s part of her latest poetry collection, “ Registers of Illuminated Villages ,” a book 15 years in the making that shines a light on “the invisible, but tangible,” she said.

“I was thinking about things like helplessness and poverty and allocation of resources and how we can simultaneously sort of take something like water for granted,” she said. “Even if you consume something like water, you have no idea necessarily what its contents are or what [it] is going to do to you.”

In April 2014, city officials switched the source of Flint’s water supply from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department over to the Flint River to cut costs. Due to improper water treatment and natural corrosion from old pipes , Flint’s water supply was exposed to heavy levels of lead contamination .

In addition, a legionella outbreak (also known as legionnaires’ disease) from the contaminated water supply killed 12 people . As a result of the crisis, 15 city officials were charged with criminal offenses, some for involuntary manslaughter.

It’s been four years since Flint’s crisis began, and some residents still live without access to potable water, and the water at some schools still tests above the federal threshold some of the time. To provide students and others bottled water, the state of Michigan currently shells out $22,000 a day .

Faizullah, a second-generation Bangladeshi, said her interest in water and the allocation of essential resources is “obsessive,” and draws inspiration from Bangladesh’s own struggle with water. Millions are currently water insecure , and research conducted by World Bank predicts that climate change will decrease the country’s already scarce clean water supply.

Her poem “I Told the Water” brings water to life and unpacks its role in our lives — as mirror, life-giver and sometimes a villain.

Faizullah sees this as the power of poetry, from which readers can “walk away from the interaction having a greater understanding of your relationship to an element that you live beside and among.”

  Listen to Faizullah’s “I Told the Water” from the 2014 Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference below.

“I Told the Water,” from Registers of Illuminated Villages, copyright © 2018 by Tarfia Faizullah. Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press. All rights reserved. www.graywolfpress.org

Bangladeshi American poet Tarfia Faizullah grew up in Midland, Texas. She earned an MFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University program in creative writing. Her first book, Seam (2014), won the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award. A Kundiman fellow, she lives in Detroit where she teaches at the University of Michigan and is an editor for the Asian American Literary Review and Organic Weapon Arts Chapbook Series. Her second book is Registers of Illuminated Villages (Graywolf Press, 2018).

Jennifer Hijazi is a news assistant at PBS NewsHour.

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Residents queue to fill water bottles at a natural water spring in Cape Town, South Africa, a city that may soon have to shut off its taps due to a severe water shortage.

From Not Enough to Too Much, the World’s Water Crisis Explained

Many more cities than Cape Town face an uncertain future over water. But there are emerging solutions.

“Day Zero,” when at least a million homes in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, will no longer have any running water , was originally scheduled for April. It was recently moved to July . The three-year long drought hasn’t ended, but severe water rationing—limiting people to a mere 13 gallons (50 litres) per person per day—has made a difference. (To put this into perspective, an average U.S. citizen uses 100 gallons (375 liters) per day .)

“No person in Cape Town should be flushing potable water down a toilet any more.… No one should be showering more than twice a week now,” said Helen Zille , the premier of the Western Cape province, where Cape Town is located.

Like many places in the world, Cape Town and the surrounding region has likely reached “peak water,” or the limit of how much water can be reasonably taken from the area, says water scientist Peter Gleick , president-emeritus of the Pacific Institute. Gleick, who has spent substantial time in South Africa, says the country generally has good water managers.

“Two years ago, I would not have predicted Cape Town would face day Zero,” he said in an interview. However, climate change has disrupted the Earth’s hydrological cycle (water cycle), changing when, where, and how much precipitation falls. That has made water management planning far more challenging, he said. Yet our water systems were largely built based on the more stable climate of the past.

“What’s happening in Cape Town could happen anywhere,” says Gleick.

Global Risk

Brazil’s São Paulo, a megacity of 20 million, faced its own Day Zero in 2015. The city turned off its water supply for 12 hours a day, forcing many businesses and industries to shut down . In 2008, Barcelona, Spain, had to import tankers full of freshwater from France. Droughts have also become more frequent, more severe, and affecting more people around the world.

Fourteen of the world’s 20 megacities are now experiencing water scarcity or drought conditions. As many as four billion people already live in regions that experience severe water stress for at least one month of the year, according to a 2016 study in the journal Science Advances . Nearly half of those people live in India and China. With populations rising, these stresses will only mount.

Disaster data compiled by the U.N . clearly shows floods are also getting worse. They are happening more frequently, especially in coastal regions and river valleys, and affecting more people. Of all major disasters in the world between 1995 and 2015, 90 percent were weather-related events, such as floods, storms, heatwaves, and droughts. Flooding accounted for more than half of all weather-related disasters, affecting 2.3 billion people and killing 157,000 in that 20-year period. Last year, the costs of extreme weather—floods, droughts, wildfires, storms—in the U.S. reached a record-topping $300 billion . These events displaced more than one million Americans from their homes.

Humanity is facing a growing challenge of too much water in some places and not enough water in others. This is being driven not just by climate change, but by population and economic growth and poor water management, experts warn.

“Water scarcity and flood problems are primarily due to quick growth, increasing vulnerability, and insufficient preparation,” says Arjen Hoekstra , a professor of water management at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. “Climate change, however, is and will worsen the situation in most cases.”

The Roll of “Embedded Water”

Cape Town, where nearly four million people live, has a dry climate much like southern California. It is facing it’s Day Zero due to increased water demands from population and economic growth in combination with a three-year drought that’s severely limited the water supply. Yet what many people don’t realize is that typical home use of water—for washing, flushing, and cooking—represents only about three percent of humanity’s total water consumption, says Hoekstra. Agriculture uses the lion’s share, 80 to 90 percent, followed by energy production and industry.

Rivers Run Dry

The Cape Town region is the heart of South Africa’s wine country, which exported 113 million gallons (428.5 million litres) of wine in 2016 to Europe and the U.S. Yet this export represents a much bigger amount of water that was used to grow and process the grapes. Most of that water is no longer available for human consumption, according to Hoekstra, who is the creator of the water footprint concept. He and colleagues at the Water Footprint Network have worked out that it takes between 26 to 53 gallons (100 to 200 liters) of water to grow the grapes and process them into one five-ounce (125 ml) glass of wine.

In other words, the net amount of water used to grow or make something, be it a lemon, cellphone, or glass of wine, is the product’s water footprint. Most of the water used to make a typical glass of wine is lost to evaporation, with a small amount stored in the grapes, and the rest unsuitable for reuse. While the evaporated water will eventually become rain, it is unlikely to fall over the same vineyards, or even in the Western Cape province, meaning it is effectively “lost” to the region.

So that means a typical 25-ounce (750 ml) bottle of wine has a water footprint of nearly 200 gallons (750 liters). That means the region’s 2016 wine exports involved the net consumption of 113.2 billion gallons (428.5 billion liters) of water. This is water that is lost to the region.

South Africa already has 7 million people without access to water . Meeting their needs would require 33.3 billion gallons (126 billion liters) per year, one third of the amount the wine industry consumes. On top of that, the Western Cape exported an estimated 231,000 tonnes of citrus fruits , mostly oranges, in 2017. The water footprint of one orange—the net amount of water used to grow it—averages 21 gallons (80 liters). Using that basis, those citrus exports used up 30 billion gallons (115 billion liters) of the province’s water.

Not only does it take water to grow anything, it also takes water to make most things: cars, furniture, books, electronics, buildings, jewelry, toys, and even electricity. This water, which often goes largely unseen, is often called “virtual water.” What gets forgotten is that virtual water is as real as the water you drink.

South Africa, a water-stressed country, also exports oil products, minerals, and metals, all of which require enormous amounts of water. For example, it exported 211 tonnes of platinum in 2012. That’s like an export of 45 billion gallons (170 billion liters) of water—the estimated amount of water needed to mine and process the metal .

Other large countries with growing populations, such as China and India, also export staggering volumes of virtual water, often while facing considerable water scarcity problems at home. “This simply can’t continue,” says Hoekstra.

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All of those exports could be produced using far less water, Hoekstra says. It starts with what he calls the most important water management strategy: grow and produce things in the right place. In other words, water-intensive crops like rice and cotton should be grown in water-rich regions.

In a global economy, drought can be a big issue even in water-rich countries, because of a growing dependence on imports. Around 38 percent of the European Union’s water consumption is reliant on water availability in other countries, to grow soybeans, rice, cotton, and other products that it imports. “That makes Europe vulnerable to increasing water scarcity and drought,” says Christopher Briggs , executive director of Water Footprint Network.

A coastal city, Cape Town hopes to solve its problem by getting a new water source: the ocean. It is building its first desalination plants . However, these are expensive and energy intensive. Gleick says it would be more cost effective for the region to shift to less-water intensive crops and to reuse treated wastewater. Currently, Cape Town reuses just five percent of its treated wastewater, compared to Israel’s 85 percent. Israel has also eliminated water-thirsty crops like cotton and made major improvements in water efficiency to free up more water for population growth.

California, which recently suffered through four years of drought and water restrictions , also needs to shift its agricultural production to less water-using crops, says Gleick, who is based there. And the state could increase its wastewater reuse from the current 15 percent, using the surplus to recharge depleted aquifers and use on crops.

A reservoir can be seen at a low level in Cape Town in February. Many other cities could suffer similar fates in the near future, experts warn.

When There’s Too Much Water

Perhaps ironically, too much water too fast was California’s most recent water problem. Following its worst wildfire season in history, heavy rainfall this winter produced mud slides that killed more than 20 people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes. Hurricane Harvey , which hit Texas and Louisiana last August, causing $125 billion in damage, dumped more water out of the sky than any storm in U.S. history. Some 890,000 families sought federal disaster aid, most often from flooding in the Houston area—in large part because many homes were built on flood plains . At the start of March, five states were under a state of emergency (Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and Michigan) due to heavy rainfalls and flooding.

Rapid population growth, building on floodplains or low-lying coastal regions, and climate change are the biggest reasons why flooding is affecting more people and causing ever greater damage, warns Gleick.

Climate change is the result of burning fossil fuels and has added 46 percent more heat-trapping carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. But even if fossil-fuel used ended today, that additional heat in the atmosphere will put 10 times more Americans at risk of being flooded out by rivers over the next 20 years, a new study reveals .

“More than half of the United States must at least double their protection level within the next two decades if they want to avoid a dramatic increase in river flood risks,” says lead-author Sven Willner from Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

Rainfall changes caused by global warming will increase river flood risks across the globe, the study found. In South America, the number of people affected by river flooding will likely increase from 6 to 12 million. In Africa, the number will rise from 25 to 34 million, and in Asia from 70 to 156 million.

It bears repeating that these findings are based on the current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In reality, humanity added 45 billion tons in 2017, and will likely add that much or more in 2018. Without limiting human-caused warming to well below 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees Celsius), the river flood risk in many regions will be beyond what we can adapt to, Willner and team’s study concludes.

Climate change is also causing sea levels to rise, resulting in substantial coastal flooding during high tides and storms. More than 13 million Americans living on the coasts will be forced to move by 2100 because of rising ocean levels, according to a 2017 study by Mathew Hauer, a demographer at the University of Georgia. About 2.5 million will flee the region that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. Greater New Orleans loses up to 500,000 people; the New York City area loses 50,000, the study estimated. These coastal migrants will likely go to cities on high ground with mild climates, such as Atlanta, Austin, Madison, and Memphis. ( See what would happen if all the ice melted .)

“If people are forced to move because their houses become inundated, the migration could affect many landlocked communities as well,” said Hauer in a statement.

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Water Crisis in Pakistan: Manifestation, Causes and the Way Forward

Water crisis in pakistan: manifestation, causes and the way forward  .

Nazam Maqbool   , Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad.

“Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two noble prizes – one for peace and one for science” John F Kennedy[1]

INTRODUCTION

Water scarcity is a frightening situation that is already happening in Pakistan. The country ranks 14 among the 17 ‘extremely high water risk’ countries of the world, a list that includes hot and dry countries like Saudi Arabia.[2] Over 80 percent of the total population in the country faces ‘severe water scarcity’ for at least one month of the year.[3] In addition to surface water, Pakistan’s groundwater resources—the last resort of water supply—are severely overdrawn, mainly to supply water for irrigation. If the situation remains unchanged, the whole country may face ‘water scarcity’ by 2025. The situation is strategically more complicated, as Pakistan is the lower riparian country to India and 78 percent of its water inflows from therein.[4] Moreover, only two-thirds of available water is being utilised while one-third of the water is either lost or discharged into the sea.[5]  

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE WATER CRISIS IN PAKISTAN

The water crisis is a reality in Pakistan as is evident from the following facts.  

2.1.  Water Availability

Over the last few decades, Pakistan has drastically changed from being a water abundant country to a water-stressed country (Figures 1 and 2). With 2.8 percent of the global population, Pakistan accounts for 0.5 percent of global renewable water resources.[6] Worldwide, the country ranks 36 th in total renewable water resources compared to India’s rank at 8th and Bangladesh’s at 12th (2017).[7]  

2.2.  Water Withdrawals

Pakistan ranks 160 th in the ratio of water withdrawals to water resources (in 2017), performing better than 18 countries only (Figure 3). Agriculture is the largest water consumer, accounting for 94 percent of annual water withdrawals followed by households (5.3 percent) and industry (including power generation) (0.8 percent).[8]  

2.3.  Dependence on Single River System

The country’s dependence on a single river system is extremely risky: the Indus river system accounts for 95.8 percent of the total renewable water resources of Pakistan.[9] Moreover, the water originating from outside of Pakistan accounts for over three-fourths (78 percent) of total water resources of the country, making it vulnerable.[10]

____________________ [8] Ibid. [9] Young et al. 2019. [10] FAO 2021.

2.4.  Low Water Productivity

In 2017, Pakistan ranked 8th lowest in the world, generating US$1.4 per cubic meter of water withdrawn. Malaysia ranked 35th (US$55.0/m 3 ), Republic of Korea 37th (US$52.4/m 3 ), China 71st (US$ 21/m 3 ) and Turkey 87th (US$13.6/m 3 ).[11]

2.5.  Overuse of Groundwater

The Indus Basin aquifer has been ranked as the 2nd most over-stressed underground water reserve in the world.[12] The strain on groundwater is very disturbing. Over 60 percent of irrigation, 70 percent of drinking water and 100 percent of the industry in the country depend on it.[13]

2.6.  Drinking Water

Country’s cities are already facing problems of erratic supply of piped water and unsafe and declining levels of groundwater. Only 36 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water (Figure 4).

2.7.  Wastewater Treatment

Over 63 percent of globally produced wastewater is collected, 52 percent is treated (48 percent is released untreated) while 11 percent is reused.[14] With a mere 1 percent treatment of collected wastewater, Pakistan ranks among the countries with the lowest water treatment rate.[15] “Pakistan is wasting its water resources due to inefficient consumption patterns and negligible recycling” , says Dr Tariq Banuri.[16]  

WHAT ARE THE ROOT CAUSES OF PAKISTAN’S WATER CRISIS?

Pakistan’s water crisis is explained mainly by rapid population growth followed by climate change (floods and droughts), poor agricultural sector water management, inefficient infrastructure and water pollution. This in a result is also aggravating internal tensions between provinces.

3.1.  Rapid Population Growth and Unplanned Urbanisation

The biggest challenge to deteriorating water resources and decreasing per capita water availability in Pakistan is population growth and urbanisation. Between 1972 and 2020, Pakistan’s population increased by 2.6 times, moving it in rank from 9 th to 5 th . Bangladesh’s population increased by 1.5 times (from 66.6 million to 164.7 million) during this time. Total water use in Pakistan increased by about 0.7 percent per year between 1977 and 2017[17]; while total water resources remained static at 246.8 billion cubic meters (BCM), resulting in a decrease in per capita water resources from 3,478 to 1,117 cubic meters per year (table 1). This has resulted in an increase in pressure on water resources, reflected by the ratio of water withdrawals to renewable water resources going up from 62 percent to 82 percent between 1977 and 2017.[18]

Pakistan’s population is projected to increase by over one-half (53 percent), reaching 338 million by 2050. The share of the population living in cities is also projected to increase from 37.2 percent in 2020 to 52.2 percent in 2050.[19] If water efficiency remains the same, the water withdrawal to water resources ratio may exceed 100 percent in coming decades.

_____________________ [11] Ibid. [12] NASA Global Climate Change 2015. [13] Ashraf 2018. [14] Jones et al. 2021. [15] Wendling et al. 2020. [16] Abubakar 2019. [17] FAO 2021 and World Bank 2021. [18] FAO 2021. [19] UN 2021b.

3.2.  Climate Change

Pakistan is among the list of 10 most vulnerable countries of the world to climate change (Figure 5). The country is already facing climate-related threats to water resources as is evident from the change in monsoon patterns, receding glaciers, rising temperatures and recurrence of floods and droughts. Pakistan has witnessed a number of floods in the past several years and long spells of drought. For example, the 2010 floods caused direct losses of more than US$10 billion and 1,600 deaths and affected 38,600 square kilometers.[20] Similarly, Quetta and most parts of Balochistan experienced eight years of a drought-like situation from 1997 to 2005.[21]

Climate change may decline aggregate water flows in the future. In future, most projections show a declining trend and increased variability of the flows (50 to 75 years).[22] The Indus River Basin, Pakistan’s chief water source, being dependent on glacial and snowmelt and precipitation, is highly sensitive to climate change. It has already shrunk into a canal in the Sindh Province where a large number of farmers have migrated to urban areas due to a shortage of water. Given the fact that snow and ice melt runoff currently generates between 50 percent and 80 percent of average water flows in the Indus River basin,[23] this will result in landslides, heavy flooding, dam bursts and soil erosion initially and   drought and famine in the long-run.[24]

3.3.  Poor Water Management

Over 80 percent of the country’s water resources are used by four major crops (rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton) which contribute only 5 percent to GDP.[25] The productivity of these crops is low in Pakistan compared to other major agricultural economies of the world (Figure 6). Canal water is immensely underpriced, recovering only one-fifth [20 percent in the form of abiana (canal water charges)] of annual operating and maintenance costs, while the collection is 60 percent of total receivables.[26] Though the farm sector accounts for one-fifth of GDP and almost half of the country’s employment, it contributes less than 0.1 percent to total tax revenues, providing little finance for the maintenance of the irrigation system.[27]

The crumbling of water infrastructure contributes to extensive water wastage. The country’s irrigation is one of the most inefficient in the world with an overall efficiency of 39 percent, reflecting aging and poor maintenance of the irrigation system. This means, out of 143 BCM of water available at the canal headworks, only 55 BCM is being used for the farm sector. The rest (61 percent or 87 BCM) of water is lost during conveyance through canals, distributaries, minors and watercourses and during application in the field.[28] Moreover, Pakistan can save only 9 percent of the available water in the Indus River System throughout the year, compared to the global average of 40 percent.[29]

3.4.  Water Pollution

Every year about half of the two million produced wet tons of human excreta go on to pollute water in Pakistan.[30] According to a study, in Pakistan 60 million people are at risk of exposure to high concentrations of arsenic in groundwater on the Indus Plain.[31]

Water-borne diseases are a leading cause of death and suffering in Pakistan. Overall, about 60 percent of people in Pakistan are suffering from one or more of the main diseases associated with inadequate provision of drinking water and improved sanitation.[32] They fill about one-third of hospital beds and account for about 40 percent of all premature deaths in the country.[33] In 2017, 60 thousand people in Pakistan died prematurely due to inadequate water and sanitation facilities: half of them were children under-five.[34] Recently, Pakistan has also seen the emergence and resurgence of diseases like polio, dengue fever, and hepatitis A and E. Diarrhoea alone accounts for 54,000 deaths among children under-five, which means every hour more than five children die as a result of diarrhoea.[35] The economic costs to Pakistan of poor water and sanitation, floods and droughts are estimated to be 4.0 percent of the GDP or about US$ 12 billion per year.[36]

______________________ [25] Young et al. 2019. [26] Young et al. 2019. [27] IMF 2015. [28] Ashraf 2018. [29] UNDP, Pakistan 2016. [30] GOP 2016. [31] Podgorski et al. 2017. [32] GOP 2009. [33] Haydar et al. 2009. [34] IHME 2018. [35] Sahi 2013. [36] Young et al. 2019.

3.4.  Water Policies

In 2018, Pakistan formulated its first-ever National Water Policy. It acknowledges for the first time that water is a finite resource and that Pakistan has to at least recover the costs of the irrigation system. The policy also looks at future impacts of climate change on water, talks about water pricing and mentions the need for regional cooperation challenges. Some provincial-level initiatives also exist such as the Punjab Water Act 2019, the Balochistan Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Policy 2006, Sindh’s Agriculture Policy 2018 and KP’s Drinking Water Policy 2015 and Climate Change Policy 2016. However, there are several shortcomings in these documents such as the absence of a scientific basis, the neglect of water quality issues, the absence of targets, and lack of clear reference to SDGs and gender inclusion. Such gaps need to be addressed during the implementation phase. Also, there is a need for clear timelines, capacity, political will and provision of financial resources.  

3.5.  Water Distribution Issue within Provinces

A growing scarcity of water resources in the country is increasingly becoming a source of conflict among provinces over the distribution of available water. Canal water is distributed among provinces under the 1991 Water Accord: a baseline volume of 144.8 BCF water is divided among the provinces, with about 48 percent going to Punjab, about 42 percent to Sindh, 7 percent to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and about 3 percent to Balochistan.[37] A mechanism has been defined for the excess supply of water. However, the accord does not introduce any apportionment for shortages. Lesser quantities of water in various months have caused water conflicts between the upstream province of Punjab and the downstream province of Sindh and between Sindh and Balochistan over the years. Sindh alleges Punjab of water theft while Baluchistan accuses Sindh of not giving its share from Guddu and Sukhar Barrages.  

SOLUTION AND THE WAY FORWARD

Pakistan needs to take a series of measures to address its water crisis.

4.1.  Political Ownership of the Challenge

The entire political leadership and relevant stakeholders need to take ownership of the challenge of Pakistan’s water crisis and declare their intention to address it. “First of all, Pakistan’s leaders and stakeholders need to take ownership of this challenge and declare their intention to tackle it. Simply blaming previous governments, or blaming India, for the crisis won’t solve anything” [38], says Michael Kugelman.

4.2.  Policy, Reforms and Governance

There is a need to fill the vacuum between policies, reforms and their implementation by devising a detailed implementation plan. “We do not have a water crisis; we have a failure of governance with regard to water issues,” says Dr Ishrat Hussain.[39] The government needs to institute a major paradigm shift that promotes the more judicious use of water. This will include water infrastructure maintenance, water conservation technologies and awareness-raising. __________________________ [37] Siddiqui 2021. [38] Baloch 2018. [39] Husain 2017.

4.3.  Recycling of Wastewater

The policy-makers need to rethink water policy by urging recycling of wastewater as is done in Israel and Singapore based on the principle of private sector participation and optimal pricing of water.

Israel, which was water-deficient with 70 percent desert, has achieved water security by treating and reusing around 90 percent of its wastewater, primarily for irrigation, meeting around one-quarter of the country’s demand for water. Similarly, Singapore – another water-scarce country – is meeting 40 percent of its water demand from recycled wastewater which is expected to reach 55 percent by 2060.[40] _________________ [40] The Korea Times 2021.

4.4.  Increase Agricultural Efficiency

It is key to leverage technology for efficient water utilisation, however, it is also crucial to choose the right innovation so it delivers the desired solution that is needed. Farmers can use precision watering rather than flooding their fields. One of the biggest advances in modern agriculture is drip irrigation. Similarly, water-intensive crops as sugar cane and rice may be replaced with lower water demanding crops.

4.5.  Water Metering/Pricing

Another solution is making the metering of water compulsory for all users from domestic, agriculture or industrial units. Once the amount of utilisation is known, it enables better planning and management of the precious resource. The current pricing regime offers little incentive to consumers to conserve water. Pricing may be linked with income levels along with several other dimensions. Increasing the cost of water consumption will not only push consumers to use water more judicially but also generate sufficient revenues for the maintenance of infrastructure and water-conserving technologies.  

Abubakar, S. M. 2019. “How Pakistan Wastes its Water.” Dawn , 12 March. Ali, A. 2013. Indus Basin Floods: Mechanisms, Impacts, and Management . The Philippines: Asian Development Bank. Ashraf, M. 2018. “Water Scarcity in Pakistan: Issues and Options.” http://pcrwr.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Water-Scarcity-in-Pakistan-Issues-and-Options-May-18.pdf. Baloch, S.M. 2018. “Water Crisis: Why is Pakistan Running Dry?” DW.COM , 7 June. Bhutto, F. 2020. “Pakistan’s Most Terrifying Adversary is Climate Change.” The New York Times , 29 September. Biswas, A.K., C. Tortajada and P. Rohner. 2018. Assessing Global Water Megatrends . Singapore: Springer Nature Pte Ltd. Eckstein, D., V. Kunzel and L. Schafer. 2021. Global Climate Risk Index 2021 . Bonn: Germanwatch. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations). 2021. AQUASTAT. https://www.fao.org/aquastat. GOP (Government of Pakistan). 2009. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)-II . Islamabad: Ministry of Finance. ———–. 2016. Economic Survey of Pakistan 2015-16 . Islamabad: Ministry of Finance. ———–. 2019. Capacity Audit of WAPDA, IRSA, PCRWR & Reorganisation and Strengthening of Ministry of Water Resources . Islamabad: Management Services Wing, Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan. Haydar, S., M. Arshad and J.A. Aziz. 2009. “Evaluation of Drinking Water Quality in Urban Areas of Pakistan: A Case Study of Southern Lahore.” Pakistan Journal of Engineering and Applied Science 5: 16-23. Husain, B. 2017. “Water Crisis Attributed to Failure of Governance.” Express Tribune , 22 November. IHME (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation). 2018. Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 . Seattle, United States: IHME. IMF (International Monetary Fund). 2015. Issues in Managing Water Challenges and Policy Instruments: Regional Perspectives and Case Studies . Washington, DC: IMF. Jones, E.R., M.T.H. van Vliet, M. Qadir and M.F.P. Bierkens. 2021. “Country-level and Gridded Estimates of Wastewater Production, Collection, Treatment and Reuse.” Earth Syst. Sci. Data 13 (2): 237-54. Khan, S. 2017. “How Climate Change is Exacerbating Pakistan’s Water Crisis.” DW.COM , 9 November. Mekonnan, M., and A. Hoekstra. 2016. “Four Billion People Facing Water Scarcity”. Science Advances 2 (2). NASA Global Climate Change. 2015. “Study: Third of Big Groundwater Basins in Distress.” https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/grace/study-third-of-big-groundwater-basins-in-distress. Podgorski, J.E., S.A.M.A.S. Eqani, T. Khanam, R. Ullah, H. Shen and M. Berg. 2017. “Extensive Arsenic Contamination in High-pH Unconfined Aquifers in the Indus Valley.” Science Advances 3 (8). Sahi, A. 2013. “Environment: A Dirty Job.” The News , 27 October. Shah, S. A. 2016. “Water Crisis: Going Dry”. Dawn , 6 March. Siddiqui, T. 2021. Sindh Rejects Plan to Revisit 1991 Water Accord. Dawn , 12 October. The Korea Times . 2021. “Resource-Starved Singapore Turns Sewage into Ultra-Clean Water.” 13 August. UN (United Nations). 2021a. “SDG Indicators Database.” https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/unsdg. ———–. 2021b. “World Urbanisation Prospects 2018.” https://population.un.org. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), Pakistan. 2016. Development Advocate Pakistan: Water Security in Pakistan: Issues and Challenges 3 (4): 22-25. Islamabad: UNDP, Pakistan. Wendling, Z.A., J.W. Emerson, D.C. Esty, M.A. Levy and A. de Sherbinin. 2020. 2020 Environmental Performance Index . New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. World Bank. 2021. WDI Online Database. databank.worldbank.org. WRI (World Resource Institute). 2021. “Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas.” https://www.wri.org/data . Young, W. J., A. Anwar, T. Bhatti, E. Borgomeo, S. Davies, W. R. Garthwaite III, E. M. Gilmont, C. Leb, L. Lytton, I. Makin, and B. Saeed. 2019. Pakistan: Getting More from Water . Washington, D.C.: World Bank. Yu, W., Y. C. Yang, A. Savitsky, D. Alford, C. Brown, J. Wescoat and D. Debowicz. 2013.  The Indus Basin of Pakistan: The Impacts of Climate Risks on Water and Agriculture.  Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

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Press release

Imminent risk of a global water crisis, warns the UN World Water Development Report 2023

Globally, 2 billion people (26% of the population) do not have safe drinking water and 3.6 billion (46%) lack access to safely managed sanitation, according to the report, published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water and released today at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York.

Between two and three billion people experience water shortages for at least one month per year, posing severe risks to livelihoods, notably through food security and access to electricity. The global urban population facing water scarcity is projected to double from 930 million in 2016 to 1.7–2.4 billion people in 2050. The growing incidence of extreme and prolonged droughts is also stressing ecosystems, with dire consequences for both plant and animal species.

There is an urgent need to establish strong international mechanisms to prevent the global water crisis from spiraling out of control. Water is our common future and it is essential to act together to share it equitably and manage it sustainably.

Protecting and preserving this precious resource for future generations depends on partnerships. The smart management and conservation of the world’s water resources means bringing together governments, businesses, scientists, civil society and communities – including indigenous communities – to design and deliver concrete solutions. 

There is much to do and time is not on our side. This report shows our ambition and we must now come together and accelerate action. This is our moment to make a difference.

International cooperation: the key to access to water for all

Nearly every water-related intervention involves some kind of cooperation. Growing crops require shared irrigation systems among farmers. Providing safe and affordable water to cities and rural areas is only possible through a communal management of water-supply and sanitation systems. And cooperation between these urban and rural communities is essential to maintaining both food security and uphold farmer incomes.

Managing rivers and aquifers crossing international borders makes matters all the more complex. While cooperation over transboundary basins and aquifers has been shown to deliver many benefits beyond water security, including opening additional diplomatic channels, only 6 of the world’s 468 internationally shared aquifers are subject to a formal cooperative agreement.

On this World Water Day, the United Nations calls for boosting international cooperation over how water is used and managed. This is the only way to prevent a global water crisis in the coming decades.

Partnerships and people’s participation increase benefits

Environmental services, such as pollution control and biodiversity, are among the shared benefits most often highlighted in the report, along with data/information-sharing and co-financing opportunities. For example, ‘water funds’ are financing schemes that bring together downstream users, like cities, businesses, and utilities, to collectively invest in upstream habitat protection and agricultural land management to improve overall water quality and/or quantity.

Mexico’s Monterrey Water Fund, launched in 2013, has maintained water quality, reduced flooding, improved infiltration and rehabilitated natural habitats through co-financing. The success of similar approaches in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the Tana-Nairobi river watershed, which supplies 95% of the Nairobi’s freshwater and 50% of Kenya’s electricity, illustrate the global potential of such partnerships.

Inclusive stakeholder participation also promotes buy-in and ownership. Involving the end-users in planning and implementing water systems creates services that better match the needs and resources of poor communities, and increases public acceptance and ownership. It also fosters accountability and transparency. In displacement camps in the Gedo region of Somalia, residents elect water committees that operate and maintain the waterpoints that supply tens of thousands of people. Committee members partner with local water authorities of the host communities to share and manage water resources.

The United Nations World Water Development Report is published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water and its production is coordinated by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme. The report gives insight into the main trends concerning the state, use and management of freshwater and sanitation, based on work by Members and Partners of UN-Water. Launched in conjunction with World Water Day, the report provides decision-makers with knowledge and tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies. It also offers best practice examples and in-depth analyses to stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector and beyond.

Press contacts

UNESCO : François Wibaux, [email protected] , +33145680746 

UN-Water:  Daniella Bostrom Couffe, [email protected] , +41796609284

UNESCO WWAP:  Simona Gallese, [email protected] , +390755911026

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This article is related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals .

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Blue Gold: Global Water Crisis Essay

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The issue of water is a global affair because of the alarming rate at which limited fresh water reservoirs is depleted. Water is important for the sustenance of human life and most people treasure it. Due to its limited supply and the reduction of fresh water sources, it has become a sought after natural resource the same as oil.

The documentary ” Blue Gold: World Water Wars” talked about the disturbing rates at which individuals use water commercially and domestically to a point of altering nature including the wetlands and excessive mining of underground water.

A large number of corporate companies have control over water resources, including the distribution systems, in view of the fact that third world governments have relinquished their responsibilities in terms of protecting water supply as well as water conservation (Barlow & Clarke 4). The corporate companies in charge of managing fresh water resources are taking advantage of the increasing population.

Presently, world’s population is growing at an alarming rate and the population becomes concentrated in urban areas (Barlow & Clarke 6).

These urban areas lack proper sanitation services and fresh water for consumption, therefore the global water consumption rises (Barlow & Clarke 7) and the corporate companies obtain extreme financial benefits. The documentary illustrated that another way the corporate companies benefit from privatization of the fresh water resources is through exportation to other countries at a very high price.

Human activities are the leading cause of fresh water depletion. This natural resource becomes polluted by human activities such as dumping of solid and industrial wastes, development purposes and also for human consumption (Barlow & Clarke 5). The depletion of fresh water supply as a result of human activities especially industrial use contributes to global warming.

Since rainfall is an important aspect of the hydrological and the percentage of finite supply of fresh water that evaporates into the atmosphere is negligible, then the amount of rain pour expected becomes minimal and in the end, the arable lands becomes arid and dry (Barlow & Clarke 5). According to the interviewee, the sustainability and availability of fresh water as a natural resource becomes inevitable since the ecosystem becomes destroyed.

The issue of water is serious and should be addressed before it becomes worse. Globally, the amount of fresh water is dropping and it is believed that fresh water is a finite resource (Barlow and Clarke 5). Fresh water supply accounts for less than half the amount of the one percent water in the world and the rest is salt water, frozen ice caps and underground water.

The approximate land area fresh water accumulates is about 1.4 billion cubic kilometers (Barlow and Clarke 5). Even with this percentage, fresh water supply is not enough. People have turned to mining of underground water reservoirs up to a rate of about thirty billion gallons per day.

In conclusion, water is an important aspect for human survival. It enables people to coexist; therefore water resources should be conserved. As a result of global warming and personal interests from certain nations, water is becoming a fast moving commodity and the rate at which it is being used the human species might end up being extinct.

Even though scientists are exploring other alternatives, for example seeking other life supporting planets, it is up to every individual to conserve their environment for a future of sustainable development of natural resources.

Works Cited

Barlow, Maude, and Tony Clarke. Blue Gold: The Battle against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water . London: EarthScan, 2003. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, March 12). Blue Gold: Global Water Crisis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/water-crisis-essay/

"Blue Gold: Global Water Crisis." IvyPanda , 12 Mar. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/water-crisis-essay/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Blue Gold: Global Water Crisis'. 12 March.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Blue Gold: Global Water Crisis." March 12, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/water-crisis-essay/.

1. IvyPanda . "Blue Gold: Global Water Crisis." March 12, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/water-crisis-essay/.

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Water Crisis Essay

In this water crisis essay, we had describe about water crisis in details.

Water is the basic requirement for the survival and promotion of humans, animals, birds and vegetation.

Environmental pollution is a major cause of ‘water crisis’ as a result the underground layer increases rapidly.

In 1951, the per capita water availability was about 5177 cubic meters, this has now come down to around 1545 in 2011 (Source: Water Resources Division, TERI).

What is Water Crisis?

The lack of available water resources to meet the demands of water use within a region is called ‘water crisis’.

Around 2.8 billion people living in all continents of the world are affected by water crisis at least one month each year, over 1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water for drinking.

Global Scenario of Water Crisis:

Due to increasing demand for water resources, climate change and population explosion, there is a decrease in water availability.

It is estimated that in the Middle East region of Asia, most of North Africa, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan and Spain, countries are expected to have water stress situation by 2040.

Along with this, many other countries including India, China, Southern Africa, USA and Australia may also face high water stress.

Status of Water Crisis in India – Water Crisis Essay:

In India, 330 million people or nearly a quarter of the country’s population are affected by severe drought due to two consecutive years of weak monsoon.

About 50% of the regions of India are experiencing drought like conditions, particularly in the western and southern states, with severe water crisis.

According to the Composite Water Management Index report released in 2018 by the NITI Aayog , 21 major cities of the country (Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad) and about 100 million people living in these cities are facing the severe problem of water crisis.

 12% of India’s population is already living under ‘Day Zero’ conditions.

Day Zero: In order to attract the attention of all people to limit and manage water consumption in the city of Cape Town, the idea of Day Zero was introduced so as to increase management and awareness of limiting water use.

Causes of Water Crisis in India:

The problems of water crisis in India are mainly indicated in the southern and northwestern parts, the geographical location of these areas that it receives less rainfall, the southwest monsoon does not receive rainfall on the Chennai coast.

Similarly, by reaching the monsoon in the northwest, it becomes weak due to which the amount of rainfall also decreases.

Monsoon uncertainty in India is also a major cause of water crisis. In recent years, due to the impact of El-Nino, rainfall has decreased, due to which a situation of water crisis has arisen.

The agricultural ecology of India is favorable for crops that require more water for production, such as rice, wheat, sugarcane, jute and cotton etc.

The problem of water crisis is particularly prevalent in agricultural areas having these crops, the state of water crisis has arisen due to the strengthening of agriculture in Haryana and Punjab.

Serious efforts are not made to reuse water resources in Indian cities that is why the problem of water crisis in urban areas has reached a worrying situation.

Instead of reusing most of the water in cities, they are directly discharged into a river.

There is a lack of awareness among people about water conservation, the misuse of water is constantly increasing; Lawn, washing of cart, leaving the bottle open at the time of water use, etc.

Efforts to Conserve Water:

Under the Sustainable Development Goal, water availability and sustainable management is to be ensured for all people by the year 2030, the following efforts for water conservation are being made to meet this goal as follows:

At present, the use of low water crops is being encouraged to reduce the excessive use of water due to the intensification of agriculture.

In the Second Green Revolution, emphasis is being placed on low water intensity crops.

Efforts are being made to conserve water through dams, the government is also taking help from the World Bank for dam repair and reconstruction.

Guidelines have been issued by the government for construction of water tanks under the water supply program during the construction of buildings in the cities.

The NITI Aayog has released the overall water management index to inspire the effective use of water in states and union territories.

Precautions to avoid Water Crisis:

High-water crops such as wheat, rice, etc. should be transferred from coarse grains because about one-third of the water can be saved using these crops.

Also, the nutritional level of coarse cereals is also high, the use of low-water crops should be increased in areas with less rainfall.

In recent years, such efforts have been made by the Government of Tamil Nadu, water consumption efficiency should be increased, as it is still less than 30% in the best cases.

Public awareness is essential for water conservation because problem of water crisis has risen, however in some areas of America with less water availability than in countries like India.

RELATED ESSAYS:

SAVE WATER ESSAY | WATER POLLUTION ESSAY | WATER CONSERVATION ESSAY

Conclusion for Water Crisis Essay:

Water is an important natural resource as it maintains all living beings on the earth.

 We use it for drinking and cooking, bathing and cleaning, surprisingly less than one percent of the total water supply is potable, but water pollution and misuse of water crisis lead to the ‘water crisis’.

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Essay on Water Crisis | Water Scarcity Essay

Essay on water crisis | water scarcity essay.

Water scarcity essay: Here we have written an essay on water crisis covering all the important points viz; meaning of water crisis, reason of water crisis, how to address problem of water scarcity etc. This water scarcity essay has 600 + words and very helpful for all exams.

Essay on Water Crisis

Earth is only planet that has water which is primary source of life without which life is impossible. 70% of our planet is covered with water and so it is easy to think that there is plenty of water and there will be no scarcity of water. But the realty of availability of water is far away from it. The freshwater that we use for drinking, bathing, irrigation etc. is incredibly rare. Only 3% of the total water is fresh water and out of which two-thirds is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use.

As a result, billions of people worldwide lack access to fresh water for at least one month during each year. Inadequate sanitation is also a major problem for billions of people. Due to inadequate sanitation they are exposed to water borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever etc.

Many of the water resources that keep our ecosystems thriving and feed entire human population have become stressed. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up and becoming too polluted to use to due to excessive  and improper use. Climate change is also altering patterns of weather and water around the world. As a result, it causes shortages and droughts in some areas and floods in others.

How to tackle with the problem of water scarcity

While the situation of water crisis is dire, there are many solutions that can be helpful in addressing global water scarcity. These include creating awareness about water scarcity to understand the scope of the issue. In this regard World Water Day is observed every year on 22 March  with a specific to theme to create awareness about this vital resource of earth. Use of new technologies like wastewater recycling, energy-efficient desalination plants, solar and UV water filtration, nanofiltration, and rainwater harvesting systems can also be very helpful in addressing water scarcity.

Also Read: Essay on Global Warming

As almost 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture, making agricultural irrigation more efficient can be helpful in addressing water crisis. Enhanced soil moisture sensors, monitoring, weather stations, and communications systems should be use to get accurate data to ensure water is not wasted. In addition to this, growing seasonal and less water-intensive crops should also be explored and more  focused.

Reducing water pollution is also critical step to improving access to clean water. Individual, industries and all consumers should dispose of toxic substances safely rather than pour them down into drain.

Water Crisis in India

Though more than half of earth covered with water, disastrous water crisis is creeping  on the world from a very long time and in India water crisis is constant. 17 % of world population live in India but it posses only 4% of world’s water resources. Some parts of India facing drought while others are facing flood. Ground water level is constantly declining. Green revolution which made India self-reliant in terms of food grains, is also a reason of water crisis. Some states like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are producing rice by using too much water which is not the natural crop of these areas. Too much Irrigation in agriculture land making land unfertile and provoking the water crisis.

Also Read: Essay on Natural Disaster

Ground water is not only source of fresh water, rain water can also be stored and used for daily needs. Adopting rainwater harvesting and recharging groundwater is one of the simplest and best measures in conserving water. Some states like Tamilnadu are already doing good in rain water harvesting. This practice can efficiently be implemented in lieu of traditional water supplies that are currently on the verge of tapping out water resources. We cannot generate water so water is precious resource and we all should use is carefully.

A famous poet Raheem Das said- “Raheeman Pani Rakhiye Bin Pani Sab Soon,  Pani gaye na ubre moti manush choon”

Meaning - Conserve and save water because without water everything is zero, if it disappeared from the earth, ecosystem and human life  too would disappear with it.

Hope you liked this essay on water crisis and it helped you in your preparation. You may download PDF essay on important topics from here for your exams.

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