The global water crisis is not a mirage

World Water Day has just been celebrated and the situation of water resources is not the most optimistic

‘Be the change you want to see in the world’. This is the slogan of World Water Day 2023, celebrated on 22 March, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of caring for the planet’s water resources, a human right that is in danger.

According to the UN, between 2 and 3 billion people suffer from water scarcity in the world, and the worrying thing is that this is a trend that could worsen over the years, especially in cities.

The World Water Development Report notes that some 26% of the world’s population lacks safe drinking water, and 46% lacks access to safely managed sanitation.

It indicates that the world’s urban water-stressed population will double by 2050 to 2.4 billion people. This water stress is associated with increasing water use (by 1% per year) and extreme weather events due to climate change.

Water scarcity in the EU

In the European Union, the most water-intensive sectors are agriculture, energy and manufacturing. Water stress affects more than 100 million people, leading to a deterioration in freshwater quantity (due to overexploitation or drought) and quality (due to pollution or eutrophication, an excessive increase in nutrients).

According to the Water Exploitation Index Plus, water scarcity is most common in southern Europe: about 30% of its population lives in permanently water-stressed areas, and up to 70% suffer from seasonal water stress during the summer. 

But water scarcity is not just a problem for this geographical area, as it is present in river basins throughout the European Union. To alleviate this problem, the European Environment Agency has launched a series of general recommendations to reduce water consumption: pricing water according to the volume consumed; avoiding bioenergy crops in areas with water shortages; raising public awareness through talks, eco-labelling, etc.; correcting leaks in public supply networks; more effectively penalising illegal water abstraction and encouraging the use of alternative water sources such as rainwater, grey water or treated wastewater.

The measures adopted

European legislation has taken important steps to improve water status, such as the Water Framework Directive, the Urban Waste Water Directive and the Drinking Water Directive.

The legislation has improved wastewater treatment and reduced the agricultural use of nitrogen and phosphorus, and significantly improved the quality of bathing water in coastal and inland areas.

In addition, and in line with the UN, the EU advocates a blue economy that recognises the importance of the sustainable use of water from the seas and oceans as a driver for sustainable growth.

Despite these improvements, the message is clear: we are living beyond our means when it comes to water, and it is up to all of us to rationalise water use and reduce demand, rather than increase supply in an unsustainable way.