Sustainable Societies
Water
Water is the lifeblood of the earth, and every living being has the right to it. But the supply is finite. Only one half of one percent of all water on earth is actually fresh (non-saline) and accessible enough for human use. The World Bank estimates that global demand for water is doubling every 21 years. As a result, in most parts of the world, access to freshwater has become the most critical natural resource issue.
Freshwater availability cannot keep pace with potentially unsustainable levels of irrigated agriculture and the industrial and domestic demand as rising standards of living drive up rates of consumption. Situations where demand outpaces supply create scarcity known as “water stress”, resulting in severe environmental and human hardships.
Inefficient large-scale, commercial agricultural practices, particularly in developing countries, are accelerating desertification rates and salinity levels due to over-extraction. Climate change is wreaking havoc with traditional rainfall patterns. With higher temperatures and more rapid melting of winter snow packs and glaciers, less water is available to farms and cities during summer months when demand is high.
Examples of water stress include:
- 884 million people worldwide -- 1 in 8 -- lack access to safe water.
- 3.5 million deaths are caused by water-related diseases annually. At any given time, half the world’s hospital beds are filled by people with water-borne illnesses.
- 90% of the world's cities still dump raw sewage into local bodies of water.
- In many regions, over 80% of freshwater is used for agricultural irrigation. Often, freshwater withdrawals from underground aquifers allow seawater to replace overdrawn freshwater, ruining those aquifers for future human use.
- Women in developing countries spend 200 million work hours per day collecting water. Multiple times daily, they walk an average of 3 to 4 miles, carrying home forty pound, five-gallon water containers on their heads.
Many water stress problems can be alleviated or mitigated by better planning and investment. More efficient irrigation practices -- some as simple as slow drip hoses -- can help protect aquifers. Micro-finance loans for freshwater projects, when pooled together within and across communities, increase engagement and empowerment which in turn helps ensure projects’ successes. These approaches improve water quality and increase access, cutting down on both disease and workload, and they improve quality of life.