Water Facts and Trends: what's happening to the world's water supply?

Geneva, 23 August 2005 - Three quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, yet only half a per cent of the water on the planet is available for use by humans. Where is this water located and how is it being used? Are we draining this precious resource faster than nature can replenish it?

The WBCSD's Water Facts and Trends ( 2.2 MB) addresses some of these important questions. Brief, informative, and easy to understand, this document provides a helpful overview for policy-makers, media and individuals interested in what’s happening to the world’s water supply.

The report looks at water use areas such as agriculture, industry and individual consumption in different parts of the world, and where stress in the water supply is likely to occur in the coming years. According to the report:

• Industry accounts for over half of water use in high-income countries
• People in the United States use an average of 215 cubic meters per year; in Mali the average consumption is just 4 cubic meters
• Irrigation accounts for over 90% of water use in India, but less than 1% in the United Kingdom
• Between 1957 and 2001 over 60% of the Aral Sea in Russia disappeared. This occurred as a result of two inflowing rivers being diverted to irrigate water-intensive cotton and rice crops
• Globally, roughly 15 to 35% of the water used for irrigation is estimated to be unsustainable

The report goes on to identify several trends that will affect fresh water use in the coming decades. These include population growth, increasing affluence, expansion of business activity, rapid urbanization and climate change.

The Millennium Development Goals make an explicit commitment to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015. Access to water is also essential to many of the other goals – such as the commitments to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality, according to Robert Martin, Director of the Water Programme at the WBCSD.

“Water Facts and Trends is intended to help individuals in business, government and all sectors of society understand the key issues underlying the global water situation and to promote constructive dialogue on what can be done to ensure sustainable water management,” Martin says.

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• Water Facts and Trends ( 2.2 MB)

Author WBCSD Publication Date 23 Aug 2005 Document Type WBCSD news Issue/Topic Water Source WBCSD Include In RSS WBCSD News & Updates		2.2 MB