A quarter of the world’s population, living in 17 countries, has been facing extremely high water stress while ‘once unthinkable’ water crisis is becoming common now. The said countries are close to ‘day zero’ conditions in which the taps go dry.
This revelation has been made by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in a report, which states these countries are home to one in four persons on earth. These regions are ‘extremely high water-stressed’, as they are using more than 80 percent of the available water every year.
“Agriculture, industry, and municipalities are drinking up 80 percent of available surface and groundwater in an average year,” says the WRI.
“When demand rivals supply, even small dry shocks, which are set to increase due to climate change, can produce dire consequences” like the recent crises in Sao Paulo, Chennai, and Cape Town.
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Other such countries include Israel, Qatar, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Eritrea, San Marino, India, Pakistan, Bahrain, Turkmenistan, Botswana, and Oman.
Qatar is the world’s most water-stressed country followed by Israel, Lebanon, Iran, and Jordan.
The growing shortages are increasing the risk of conflict in these countries, say the researchers. “Water stress is the biggest crisis no one is talking about. Its consequences are in plain sight in the form of food insecurity, conflict and migration, and financial instability,” says WRI CEO, Andrew Steer.
Another 27 countries have been ranked as the ‘high baseline water stress’ list.
12 of the most water-stressed countries are present in the Middle East and North Africa, while the 13th country is India, which has over three times the population of the other 16 in its category combined.
Countries having low water stress can also have dire hotspots. The US ranks 71st on the list, but the state of New Mexico is facing extremely high water-stress levels.
