Water: The World's Most Precious Resource

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Freshwater is essential for all life, for agriculture, for industry and commercial use to serve the economy, for municipal development, and for household use. Of the Earth's water, only 2.5% is freshwater, mostly trapped as ice. Of the one‐third that is renewable, three‐fourths of that is lost during floods, resulting in a very small portion of the Earth's water to be accessible for human use. The hydrologic cycle maintains a constant replenishment of freshwater, but it is delivered where nature determines and not necessarily where it is needed, nor in amounts or at a time to be effectively used. Population growth will continue to stress water availability, especially in underdeveloped areas. Many countries are depleting underground aquifers thus destroying the essential reserves needed to buffer periods of scarcity. There is no overreaching solution for all of the problems related to water scarcity, but a variety of suggestions for preservation, purification, and re‐utilization can be of value. Application of new technologies to recycle and purify waste water, to generate freshwater by desalination, to decrease losses due to evaporation and delivery system leakage, and to assure purification with chlorination or ozonization will provide inexpensive, clean, and safe water to those who need it. New, innovative water management policies must be created and jointly implemented by the world community to provide better stewardship of our most critical resource, to enable allocation between competing sectors and meet demands for upstream/downstream water sharing, and to allocate water for societal use while protecting the environment.