- The World population is set to increase to 9 Billion by 2040, but the projected reservoir volume is stabilising around 7, 000 billion cubic metre.
- This report published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on behalf of UN-Water.
- The production of the report is coordinated by UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme(WWAP).
Key Points
- As per the report, the world’s 400 river basins identified water shortage risks in parts of Africa, Australia, Northern China, India, Spain & Western parts of the USA.
- Average annual storage volume losses equal about 1% of total Built reservoir capacity, the estimated costs for restoring the losses were approximately USD 13 Billion per year.
- Independent assessments state that the world will face a Global Water Deficit of 40% by 2030.
- The report estimates that 140 Low and Middle-income countries need to spend $114 billion per year to access safe drinking water and sanitation.
Causes of Low Reservoir Expansion
- Sedimentation was one of the main reasons for decrease in the storage capacity of existing reservoirs.
- Artificial lakes & reservoirs suffered significant losses from increased evaporation compared to original rivers.
Alternatives proposed by authors of the study
- Recognising the value of reducing demand
- Increasing supply through measures like improved land management or water reuse.
- Using Decentralised solutions
- ‘Conjunctive use’ of natural systems.
Recent Related News:
i.November 3, 2020, In accordance with the WWF Water Risk Filter, an online tool nearly a third of the 100 cities in the world susceptible to “water risk” are in India means 30 Indian cities are expected to suffer increased water risks by 2050.
About UN-Water:
Chair – Gilbert F. Houngbo
Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
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