ABSTRACT
While most of the old challenges of water supply, sanitation and environmental sustainability remain, new challenges such as adaptation to climate change, rising food and energy prices, and ageing infrastructure are increasing the complexity and financial burden of water management. Population growth and rapid economic development have led to accelerated freshwater withdrawals.
Trends in access to domestic water supply indicate substantial improvement in the past decade, putting most countries on track to achieve the water supply target of the Millennium Development Goals. However, sanitation is lagging well behind, and most sub-Saharan African countries and many rural areas still show unsatisfactory records for both water supply and sanitation.
Steadily increasing demand for agricultural products to satisfy the needs of a growing population continues to be the main driver behind water use. While world population growth has slowed since the 1970s and is expected to continue its downward trend, steady economic development, in particular in emerging market economies, has translated into demand for a more varied diet, including meat and dairy products, putting additional pressure on water resources.
After agriculture, the two major users of water for development are industry and energy (20% of total water withdrawals), which are transforming the patterns of water use in emerging market economies. Water and energy share the same drivers: demographic, economic, social and technological processes put pressure on both energy and water. The recent acceleration in the production of biofuels and the impacts of climate change bring new challenges and add to the pressures on land and water resources.
Freshwater ecosystems provide an extensive array of vital services to support human well-being. A variety of economic and recreational activities such as navigation, fisheries and pastoral activities depend on direct use of water in healthy ecosystems. Yet some environmental services receive inadequate policy attention and are endangered by the way development sectors use water.
