For example, China and Canada have roughly the same amount of land area and water. China, however, has 40 times the number of citizens as Canada. Water Stress, Water Scarcity A country is designated as water stressed when it has less than 1700 cubic meters of renewable freshwater per person per year. Countries facing water stress suffer intermittent or localized water shortages. Countries experiencing water scarcity have less than 1000 cubic meters of renewable freshwater per person per year.
Water scarcity can damage economic growth and cause critical environmental problems.
Water Use Demands on the water supply by humans for agricultural, industrial, and personal use have caused the shortages currently seen around the world. Countries that have experienced either water stress or water scarcity usually try to supplement their water supply by pumping non-renewable supplies of groundwater like the Ogallala aquifer, found under the United States Great Plains states and pumped for use by local farmers and residents. Current levels of both agricultural and residential use demand a heavy reliance on the pumping of groundwater for irrigation. The overpumping of rivers and groundwater along with pollution from agriculture, industry and human wastes have caused water quality to decline. Industry has been responsible for chemical pollution by dumping toxic wastes into rivers and on land, thus damaging groundwater supplies by allowing toxins to seep through soil into underground reserves.