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W A T E R - W I S E , A WELL OF FACTS
A fact Sheet from the U.S. Agency for International Development
If the world's water supply is compared to one gallon (3.8 liters), freshwater would make up 4 ounces (118 milliters) or 3 percent, and readily accessible freshwater would make up 2 drops. (Miller, G.T. 1998. Living in the Environment, 10th Edition. Wadsworth Publishers, Belmont, California)
Humans beings already use approximately 54 percent of all accessible surface water runoff (usable, renewable freshwater). This is expected to increase to 70 percent by 2025. (Postel, Daily & Ehrlich. 1996. "Human Appropriation of Renewable Fresh Water." Science 271:785-788)
Today, at least 400 million people live in regions with severe water shortages. By the year 2050, it will be 4,000 million. (Hinrichsen, D., B. Robey, and U.D. Upadhyay. 1998. "Solutions for a Water-Short World." Population Reports, Series M, No. 14, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Population Information Program, Baltimore, Maryland)
Just a 10 percent improvement in efficiency of water delivery for irrigation systems could conserve enough water to double the global amount available for drinking. (Environment On-line)
Nearly 40 percent of the world's people live in more than 200 river basins that are each shared by at least three countries. (Serageldin, I. 1995. "Toward Sustainable Management of Water Resources." The World Bank, Washington, D.C.)
Some 450 cubic kilometers of wastewater are carried into coastal areas by rivers and streams every year. These pollution loads require an additional 6,000 cubic kilometers of freshwater to dilute the pollution, an amount equal to two-thirds of the world's total stable runoff. (Hinrichsen, D. 1998. "The Ocean Planet." People and the Planet 7(2):2-4)
By 2025 population projections indicate that 75 percent of the world's population (6,300 million people) could reside in coastal areas. (Hinrichsen, D. 1998. Coastal Waters of the World: Trends, Threats, and Strategies. Island Press) In Asia, approximately 86 percent of all freshwater use is for agriculture, 8 percent for industry, and 6 percent for domestic purposes. (European Schoolbooks (ES). 1994. The Battle for Water: Earth's Most Precious Resource. ES, Cheltenham, UK)
Asia, with 60 percent of the world's population, has only 36 percent of global freshwater runoff, and 80 percent of that occurs in floods from May to October, exceeding man-made storage capacity and making it difficult to capture. (Clarke, R. 1993. Water: The International Crisis. MIT Press, Boston, Massachusetts)
Over the next two decades, population increase alone -- not to mention growing demand per capita -- is projected to push all of the Near East into water scarcity. (Hinrichsen, D., B. Robey, and U.D. Upadhyay. 1998. "Solutions for a Water-Short World." Population Reports, Series M, No. 14, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Population Information Program, Baltimore, Maryland)
Asia's rivers average 20 times more lead than the rivers in the industrialized world, and average 50 times more bacteria from human feces than WHO guidelines allow. (Kristof, N.D. 1997. New York Times 11-28-97, "Across Asia, a Pollution Disaster Hovers," p. A1)
About 500,000 Asians per year die from dirty water and poor sanitation. (Kristof, N.D. 1997. New York Times 11-28-97, "Across Asia, a Pollution Disaster Hovers," p. A1., citing WHO and World Bank)
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