STATE OF WATER RESOURCES

Facts and Recent Trends

The fair and efficient management of water resources and the protection of water quality are some of the most pressing issues in international policy making. Today, 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe water and 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. In developing countries, 90 percent of all wastewater still goes untreated into local water streams. An estimated forty-seven countries are classified as suffering medium to high water stress. Some five million deaths a year are caused by polluted drinking water. It is estimated that $75 billion will be needed per year to expand water service infrastructure beyond the costs required for maintaining existing systems, whereas, at present, the total development assistance allocated to the water sector is only about US 3 billion per year.

A joint study executed by WHO and UNICEF has found that in low-income countries, the reliable and consistent provision of water supply is lacking. On the sanitation front, further challenges have to be met, as many cities are not equipped with appropriate sanitation facilities. The issue of water and proper sanitation was one of the most important issues during the WSSD, when the goal was set to halve by 2015 the number of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. It was in the 1970s, with the full swing of the environmental movement, that the intensive manipulation of water (i.e., dams, canals) came under criticism.