ABSTRACT
Water stress in many parts of the world is increasing in terms of water quantity as well as quality. Humans are at the same time causing this water stress and suffering from it. Human appropriation of surface and ground water, changes in land use, release of pollutants, and other direct and indirect pressures are all contributing to the growing water crisis. Degradation of water resources and lack of access to safe water threaten human well-being and are closely linked to food insecurity and poverty in many parts of the world. The Millenium Development Goals cannot be achieved without improving water management signifi cantly (Soussan and Noel 2005, Rockström et al. 2005). Also, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and their services critically depend on availability of suffi cient amounts of water and the appropriate temporal distribution.
