Why Water?

Water is essential for life, but is also key to food security, income generation and environmental protection. The right to water covers only personal and domestic uses, i.e., water for drinking, washing clothes, food preparation and personal and household hygiene.
Why Water?
 

A Personal Crisis

A Global Crisis

 

What is water scarcity?

Global Water Scarcity Crisis Map - Worldwide Access to Water

Global Water Scarcity Crisis Map - Worldwide Access to Water (Source: WRI.org)

Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet water needs within a region. It affects every continent and around 2.8 billion people around the world at least one month out of every year. More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water.

Water scarcity involves water shortage, water stress or deficits, and water crisis. The relatively new concept of water stress is difficulty in obtaining sources of fresh water for use during a period of time; it may result in further depletion and deterioration of available water resources.[2] Water shortages may be caused by climate change, such as altered weather-patterns (including droughts or floods), increased pollution, and increased human demand and overuse of water.[3] The term water crisis labels a situation where the available potable, unpolluted water within a region is less than that region's demand.[4] Two converging phenomena drive water scarcity: growing freshwater use and depletion of usable freshwater resources.[5]