global water crisis project

1. The Global Water Crisis
in the 21st Century
By Gabriel Patino

2. “Water, water,
everywhere, Nor any
drop to drink…”1
Did you know that March 22nd is World Water Day

3. Overview of Earth’s Water and how we use it

4. What is The
Why It Matters
• In simplest terms “the global water crisis is the
inability to provide a reliable supply of potable
water to villages, towns, cities and regional
populations, all over the world”3.
• According to the Millennium
Development Goals Report 2012, 783
million people, or 11 per cent of the
global population, remain without access
to an improved source of drinking water4.
• Furthermore it is currently estimated that
by 2025 over two-thirds of the worlds
population could be living in water
stressed conditions.5
Global Water Crisis and

5. Why It Matters
1. Because about 80% of the world's population lives
in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure,
according to a new global analysis.6
2. Unsafe water is the leading cause of sickness and
death.7
- Every 15 seconds, a
Child dies from a water
related disease8
- It is estimated that
at any given time half of
the world’s hospital beds
are filled with people suffering from
water related illness9

6. Picture Recap

7. It is estimated
that nearly 10%
of the global
disease burden
could be
reduced
through
improved
water supply,
sanitation,
hygiene, and
water resource
management 11
Did You Know?

8. What Makes the Water Crisis a
Transnational Issue
Well In order to be considered a transnational
Issue one must know what a Transnational Issue
is. The C.I.A loosely defines it as “any threat that
does not respect national borders and that
threaten global security, often arising from non-
state actors”12. Along with this it is also an Issue
that can not be solved by any one government,
but rather requires the global cooperation of
various governments in order to eradicate these
said issues.13

9. Water Crisis as a Transnational Issue
Today over 43 countries are directly impacted by
the global water crisis14, with many more being
indirectly impacted
Access to safe, potable water is a fundamental
human right. However, access is plagued by
inequality – the wealthiest 12% of our global
population utilizes nearly 85% the world’s water.15
At the end of the day “Water is not a democratic
issue or a republican can issue, it's a people issue”16

10. The world’s demand for fresh water is growing so
fast that by 2030, agriculture, industry and rapidly
expanding cities will face scarce supplies, thereby
jeopardizing economic development while
threatening political stability and public health.17
It is also estimated that by 2030 "annual global
water requirements" will exceed "current
sustainable water supplies" by forty percent.18
Population growth is already colliding with finite
water resources. Advances in technology,
innovation, and best practices are being mocked
and overshadowed by relentless population and
economic growth19
Why Should we be concerned

11. Water Scarcity is only Increasing and if
this trend continues the results could
be catastrophic

13. The Global Water Crisis: Framing the
Issue
1. How do we think about something as local
as our faucets and as global as fresh water22
2. Who determines whether water is a human
right or a commodity23
_ The United Nations recognizes the
human right to water24, but this is not
the same as having the human right to
access water
1. And how do we address the different that
constitute the global water crisis.

14. The Water Crisis: An Issue Of
Supply & Demand
Overview:
A finite supply of freshwater must meet the needs of everyone living
today, future generations, and nature25
Water is a part of everything we do: It feeds crops, powers cities,
cools computer servers, and is key to the manufacturing of
everything from clothes to cars. The billion more people expected on
the planet by 2025 will increase water demand for all of those
functions. And just to feed those people, water withdrawals for
agriculture are expected to increase by about half.25
These two things added together are problematic, especially because
the demand for freshwater is increasing at twice the rate of
population growth27.

15. Breaking Down the Issue
With that said, some experts believe, the global
water crisis is perhaps more an issue of recognizing
water's true value, using it efficiently and planning
for the lean times, than it is a lack of overall
supply.28
However, it’s important to know that the
Transnational issue of the global water crisis is not
just a matter of supply and demand, but rather
constitutes several other key components which
include the management of freshwater, the
economics behind the water crisis and the
importance of understanding the water crisis.

16. Crisis of
Management
Crisis of
Economics
Crisis of
Understanding
Global Water
Crisis
Overview of what makes up
The Global Water Crisis

17. Crisis of Management
Loosely categorized as the efficiency of water
resources managed29, however in many
countries there is little to any a government
commitment to deliver water to its people
In the United States alones wastes an average of
7 billion gallons of water are wasted due to
leaking pipes30.
In third-world developing countries,
governments can not always guarantee access to
safe drinking water. As a result “If you live in a
slum in Manila, you pay more for your water
than people living in London.”31

18. Example of Crisis Of Management

20. Crisis of Economics
Simply Put it’s the impact on a country to
build and maintain the infrastructure
needed to treat and distribute water.34
Unfortunately Countries that don’t have
adequate water distribution and
infrastructure often loose millions of
dollars on lost productivity in attaining
potable water

21. Crisis of Economics
“The lost productivity of people collecting
water is greater than the combined number of
hours worked in a week by employees at
Wal*Mart, United Parcel Service, McDonald's,
IBM, Target, and Kroger”35
“In Africa alone, 40 billion hours are wasted
collecting water — more than the entire
annual workforce of France”36

22. Crisis Of Understanding
Is how well informed the general public and
our elected officials understand what’s going
on with water, nationally and globally37
Benjamin Franklin once said “When the well
runs dry, we will know the worth of water”38
Most experts believe that if there was a
greater awareness of the water crisis, then
real progress could be made towards
managing it.

23. Awareness 101
Many People assume that the water crisis is a result of
individual wastefulness; like running the water while you
brush your teeth. Therefore many people believe that by
improving our personal habits the crisis can be solved39
But For those in rural villages in Africa who must walk for
hours a day to obtain water, water scarcity can feel like a
local and personal issue that must be faced with strength
and personal sacrifice. If a woman in the United States
takes a shorter shower to conserve water, it won’t make it
any easier for a woman in Africa to access water. But it is
this fact which simultaneously makes water scarcity a
global problem. If the world is informed about the specific
ways in which water scarcity can be tackled on a global
scale, it can provide a united effort to improve water
access.40

24. E
x
a
m
p
l
e
s
Of countries dealing with
the Global Water Crisis

25. The Good: Qatar
Imagine a country with abundant power -- oil
and gas, sunshine, wind (and money) -- but
missing one key essential for life: water.
Through innovation, the Country of Qatar has
become a leader and prime example of how to
overcome water scarcity through the use of
technology.41
Despite the lack of water Qatar’s economy
continues to grow, and the average lifespan in
Qatar has increased by about 60% with the
last 70 years42

26. Qatar

27. Desalination: Qatar’s
Answer to it’s Water
Crisis
Desalination is is the
process of removing
dissolved salts from water
to produce fresh water from
water too salt y for human
consumption, agriculture or
industry44
However, One of the few
drawbacks of desalination is
that it can be expensive to
install and maintain these
facilities and machines.
Nonetheless desalination
has massive potential for
the future and with
international aid provides
water opportunities for rich
and poor nations alike.

28. The Bad: China
With an estimated population of over 1. 3 billion people, equaling
about 20% of the world’s population45 and is the country with the
highest consumption in the world46.
China is also one of the most water-rich countries in the world. But,
its water resources are unevenly distributed and overwhelmingly
concentrated in the south and far west. Water scarcity has always
been a problem for northern China, but shortages have reached
crisis levels as a result of rapid economic development.47
China’s uneven distribution of water is something of major concern.
Northern China is home to where many of its biggest cities and
industries are found, along with China's “breadbasket”. Northern
China is also located where the water supply is the shortest only
making the problem worse.48

29. China’s plan to counter the
water crisis in the north.
Allocate the water from the
Southern China’s rivers to the
North.
China is a perfect example of
a country with an abundance
of water, but not everyone
necessarily having access to
that water. Which is just as
grave as not having
water at all

31. “Made in China: The World’s Worst Water Crisis”
Currently 43 percent of the seven major river basins,
50 percent of groundwater in cities, and 77 percent
of key lakes and reservoirs in China are unfit for
humans52
And although China’s got a plan, it is only a
temporary stopgap. The amount of water it will
deliver, will buy China time to change and, hopefully,
become more efficient. But it won't be enough to
solve the country's water woes. China's thirst is just
too great, and unless it alters its ways, millions might
find one day, that their water could run dry51.
Definitely something to be concerned about

32. The Ugly: The Aral Sea
The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the
world52, it is now a dusty graveyard of rusting
shipwrecks, having lost over nine-tenths of its
volume52.
This catastrophe is a result of the Soviet
Government diverting the water to irrigate the
dessert region for the cotton industry.
The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called "one
of the planet's worst environmental disasters.”54
The region's once prosperous fishing industry has
been essentially destroyed, bringing unemployment
and economic hardship.

33. The Aral Sea Today

34. Transnational Actors in the fight
against the water crisis
Transnational actors are political, social, cultural,
and economic agents or groups that wield
considerable influence on trans-societal and/or
trans-governmental politics across borders in
pursuit of their goals, and to a certain degree
independently from domestic governmental
considerations55 Examples of Transnational Actors
include Nongovernmental organizations (NGO),
Multinational Corporations, and Supercharged
individuals (SCI).

35. The World Wildlife
Foundation
Is a prominent NGO involved in the global water crisis. The
WWF involves itself through a variety of ways, which include
promoting awareness of the issue and going to affected areas
and helping assess the issue.
Current areas of work include:
ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE. The WWF works to address
institutional challenges to managing water resources and
protecting habitats before the worst impacts of climate change
occur. This work includes promoting climate change adaptation
in international conventions and supporting the preservation
and restoration of wetlands. They help conduct assessments of
river basins’ vulnerabilities to climate change and integrate
climate change considerations into river basin management.

36. WHAT WWF IS DOING
2. MANAGING WATER SCARCITY
WWF works with partners to advance the science of water
conservation. We also work with governments, businesses and local
communities to ensure that there are sufficient in-stream flows for
people and other freshwater species, a and promote methods for
sustainable water use.
3. PROMOTING WATER STEWARDSHIP
To benefit both people and nature, WWF advocates for and supports
organizations to become responsible water stewards. At the global
level, we work on projects to establish an international water
stewardship standard through the Alliance for Water Stewardship.
We also support the use of water footprinting tools with the Water
Footprint Network and promote other international initiatives with the
United Nations’ CEO Water Mandate and the World Economic Forum. At
the local level, WWF conducts projects that measure water use and
river basin impacts and demonstrate solutions for reducing these
impacts. WWF partners with businesses and industries to identify water
risks and take advantage of opportunities to enhance water stewardship56

37. Key Actors on The Global
Water Crisis: Think tanks
Think Tanks or public policy research, analysis, and engagement
institutions are organizations that generate policy-oriented
research, analysis and advice on domestic and international issues
in an effort to enable policymakers and the public to make informed
decisions about public-policy issues. These institutions often act as
a bridge between the academic and policymaking communities,
serving the public interest in independent voice that translates
applied and focus based research into a language and form that is
understandable reliable and accessible for policymakers and the
public.57

38. Pacific Institute
• The Pacific Institute is a non-profit policy
analysis institution that researches and works
to create a healthier planet and sustainable
communities. They conduct interdisciplinary
research and partner with stakeholders to
produce solutions that advance environmental
protection, economic development, and social
equity— nationally, and internationally.58
• The Institute recognizes that “There is no
single practice or policy that will ‘solve’ all of
our water challenges,. “But that we need to
take critical steps forward toward more
efficient and effective structures and policies
that promote a sustainable approach to global
water governance.”59
• Current recommendations include Securing a
sustainable funding source and a stronger
mandate for intergovernmental organizations
to promote greater collaboration among
organizations engaged in water governance.
Adopting new standards, codes, and best
practices for water resource development and
management to promote greater transparency,
participation, and accountability. -Promoting
capacity building and increasing participation
in water management for local, regional, and
national government entities and civil society
groups. 60

39. IGO’s
An Intergovernmental
Organization (IGO) is an
organization, established by a
treaty between nations which
acts as a charter, which is
comprised of sovereign
member states or other IGOs
who work together in good
faith on issues of common
interest. Such organizations
work on an international scale
and are funded by the
contributions of national
governments61

40. The United Nations
The United Nations has long been addressing the global crisis caused by
insufficient water supply to satisfy basic human needs and growing demands on
the world’s water resources to meet human, commercial and agricultural
needs62.
In 2000 the U.N declared water as one of eight “Millennium Development
Goals” which sated that by 2015 they hoped that by 2015, halve the proportion
of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic
sanitation. This goal was achieved in 2010 five years prior to the target date.63
But probably the most important thing the United Nations has done towards the
global water crisis was recognizing the human right to water and sanitation and
acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the of all
human rights. The Resolution calls upon States and international organizations to
provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to
help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean,
accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.64
The United Nations and Recent
involvement in the Water Crisis

41. Although there are still over 780 million people
without access to clean drinking water, the fight
against the water crisis has seen significant steps
towards a water secure world.
This progress forward is a result of the hard-work
of NGO’s, IGO’s and Policy Based Institutions
around the world. It’s because of these
foundations that we have been able to achieve so
much progress .
That being said, we still have a lot to accomplish
and in order to achieve a sustainable water planet
it’s going to require, everyone’s cooperation.
Where is the Global Water Crisis Going

42. That
Difference
saves
1,656
Children
everyday

43. Global Governance in Defeating the
Global Water Crisis
• Simply put “Global governance or world
governance is the political interaction of
transnational actors aimed at solving problems
that affect more than one state or region”67
• With Global Governance and current
International efforts along with the cooperation
and investment of transnational actors I believe
that achieving a water secure world is definitely
attainable and should be one of our highest
priorities.

44. Conclusions: Taking a Realist View on
the Situation
• “Can we end the global water crisis?… No, we can’t
end it. It’s too big for humanity to beat down and
conquer. We’ve passed too many tipping points –
with climate change and with population growth and
with human behavior – to be able to turn an
extremely critical situation around.” However we can
manage our way through to ensure a sustainable
water future, with leadership and commitment from
governments around the world, and with the help of
public and private partnerships66

45. The End