The idea of “peak water” is an imperfect analogy. Unlike oil, water is not used up but only changes forms. The world still has the same 326 quintillion gallons.
But some 97 per cent of it is salty. The world’s remaining accessible fresh-water supplies are divided among industry (20 per cent), agriculture (70 per cent), and domestic use (10 per cent).
Meanwhile, fresh-water consumption worldwide has more than doubled since World War II to nearly 4,000 cubic kilometers annually and set to rise another 25 per cent by 2030.
Up to triple that is available for human use, so there should be plenty, the report says. But waste, climate change, and pollution have left clean water supplies running short.
The world has ignored demand for decades, just assuming supplies of water would be there. Now people have to learn to manage water demand and -- on top of that -- deal with climate change, too.
Image: Indian tribal women carry drinking water from a well some 5 kms away from their homes at Parvedula Tanda of Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh. | Photograph: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images
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