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Worldwide Water Crisis Recognized by U.N.

The U.N. predicts that rising demand for water will threaten human and ecological health over the next generation. As public health, development, economies and nature suffer, governments worldwide are becoming more aware of the need to ensure access to clean water. More than a billion people lack sufficient clean water to meet their basic needs.

Dr. Libor Jansky, a Senior Academic at United Nations University in Tokyo says, "Governments recognize that to avoid further crises and successfully manage their scarce and valuable water resources it is beneficial to get end-users directly involved."

Jansky and his colleagues stress human welfare and environmental sustainability demand that greater measures be used for understanding the broader perspective of the crisis. The current crisis also forces nations to develop new conservation techniques. Water management normally focuses on rivers, lakes and water tables, but it is important to also explore other issues such as cross-border water flows, inter-basin transfers, and even `virtual` water transfers through the export of water-intensive crops and manufactured goods," Janksy says.