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Date:         Fri, 18 Dec 1992 23:57:27 PST
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From:         Northcoast Environmental Center <nec@IGC.APC.ORG>
Subject:      IPS: Water Supplies Strained

/* Written 12:21 am  Dec 10, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary
*/
/* ---------- "POPULATION: Water supplies strained" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: POPULATION: Water supplies strained by high growth rates


washington, dec 7 (ips) -- high population growth in many third
world nations is putting unprecedented pressure on scarce water
supplies, according to a new report by the washington-based
demographic research organisation, the population reference bureau
(prb).

''nearly one-third of the world's inhabitants live in countries
with severe water problems,'' according to new the study,
'population and water resources: a delicate balance', which has
just been released here.

''water is a finite resource and the tiny fraction suitable for
drinking or irrigating crops is distributed unevenly throughout
the world's regions,'' says the report, written by swedish
scholars malin falkenmark and carl widstrand.

''at the same time, the human need for water is escalating
because of population growth and industrialisation,'' it says.

reflecting growing concern over the global water situation, the
two men wrote that the ''world's population lives at the mercy of
the water cycle'' because ''technology cannot influence the rate
at which water is naturally renewed from the global water
circulation system''.

''in the scandinavian hydroclimate in the northern latitudes,
for example, fewer than 500 millimeters of moisture per year
evaporate into the atmosphere.

''the evaporative demand is twice this level in southern europe
and three times as large in the sahel region of africa. as a
result, 1,000 millimeters of rainfall could create quite wet
conditions in scandinavia, but dry conditions in the sahel,'' says
the report.

human activitieswaste water resources,  according to the report
which says that people only need 100 litres daily for drinking,
cooking and washing. but roughly 70 percent of all usable water is
consumed by agricultural irrigation and 23 percent by industry,
compared to only eight percent by households, it notes.

''a large share of irrigation is wasted,'' according to the
authors. ''it is not uncommon for 70 percent of the water diverted
to irrigation systems to be lost to the atmosphere or seep into
the ground before reaching the field''. (more/ips)

population: water supplies strained by high growth rates(2-e)

population: water supplies (2)

similar findings were noted in a report released last month by
the washington-based group, the worldwatch institute, which said
that the recent technical breakthroughs and pricing strategies
have helped save water in irrigation systems in various parts of
the world.

that same report found that dwindling water supplies could
become a major new source of international conflict and that some
26 countries already have more people than their water supplies
can adequately support.

the new report also warns against excessive pumping of ground
water around the world which it said is lowering the water-table
in critical regions.

''the management of water scarcity is further complicated by
the tendency to treat water as a commodity rather than a finite
natural resource,'' according to the report.

instead of the traditional question, ''how much water do we
need and how much will it cost to get it,'' the authors say the
critical question to ask is ''how much water is available and how
can we use it most efficiently''. (end/ips/jl/yjc/92)
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