‘Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink’

The theme of World Water Day on 22nd March 2007 was water scarcity - with
an estimated 425 million children under the age of 18 still facing water
shortages.1 Events, all over the world, like rallies in India, press conferences and
marches in Zimbabwe, seminars in Bangladesh, support walks in Columbia,
exhibitions in Bangkok were conducted to create awareness amongst people on
the problem of water scarcity.
Water Scarcity
97% of Earth’s water is in the ocean; the remaining is locked inside the
Antarctic icecaps or deep underground. This leaves less than 1% available for
human use. Although water, unlike coal or oil, is a renewable source of energy,
its availability is affected by physical, economical or institutional factors. In a
natural cycle rainwater falls from the clouds, returns to the salty sea through
freshwater rivers, and evaporates back to the clouds. The cycle explains why we
cannot run out of water, but supply is finite.2
Water inequality
There is enough water to go around on a global scale, but the problem is that the
difference in availability of water across and within different regions – some
countries get a lot more than the others. Latin America has 12 times more
water that South Asia; countries like Canada and Brazil have a lot more water
than they can use; and countries like the Middle East get a lot less than they
need. These water-stressed countries are not aided by the water-abundant
countries since water, unlike oil or coal, is not readily transferable.
Pollution presents itself as another problem to the scarcity of water in countries
like China.
Increasing water supply
Many of these water-scare/stressed regions have taken to develop and enhance
water harvesting techniques to benefit communities across the globe. Australia,
India and the southern United States have taken to this method.
Other methods to fight water scarcity are improving water efficiency, irrigation
technology to increase the ‘crop per drop’ ratio, drip technology and
desalination.

1https://www.unicef.org/media/media_39164.html
2
“Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis,” Human Development Report 2006, United
Nations Development Programme, p. 134.
Virtual water trade
Virtual water trade is the hidden flow of water if food or other commodities are
traded from one place to another. The global trade in goods has allowed
countries with limited water resources to rely on the water resources in other
countries to meet the needs of their inhabitants. As food and other products are
traded internationally, their water footprint follows them in the form of virtual
water.3 For example, Jordan is dependant between 80 – 90% on virtual water.
Conclusion
Water is a flowing resource rather than a static entity, its use in any one place is
affected by its use in other places, including other countries. Global warming,
which has resulted in the melting of glaciers has become a major concern of
water supply.
The world population is expected to grow to 8.9 million people by 2050 causing
an increase in globalization and international would likely worsen the problem
of water scarcity.
Hence, if we need to rise to these challenges then conservation efforts and
immense focus on virtual water trading must be made.

3 https://waterfootprint.org/en/water-footprint/national-water-footprint/virtual-water-trade/