World water shortages growing 20 years ahead of predictions
A third of the world's population is suffering from a shortage of water, raising the prospect of "water crises" in countries such as China, India and the US.
Scientists had forecast in 2000 that one in three would face water shortages by 2025, but water experts have been shocked to find that this threshold has already been crossed.
Frank Rijsberman, director-general of the International Water Management Institute, said: "We will have to change business as usual in order to deal with the growing water scarcity crisis."
About a quarter of the world's population lives in areas of "physical water shortage", where natural forces, over-use and poor agricultural practices have led to falling groundwater levels and rivers drying up. But a further 1bn people face "economic water shortages", because they lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers.
The findings come from a report compiled by 700 experts over five years. The comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture from the International Water Management Institute was presented yesterday at World Water Week in Stockholm, an international meeting of water experts.
David Molden, co-ordinator of the report, said: "If we continue to manage water in the way we do now, there will more problems with scarcity."
He said agricultural practices could easily be improved to reduce the wastage of water.
Farming uses up 70 times more water than is used for domestic purposes such as cooking and washing. In Thailand, the amount of water used to grow food is about 2,800 litres per person per day. In Italy, about 3,300 litres are required to produce each person's food every day, of which about half goes on making ham and cheese and a third on pasta and bread.
Shortages of water are already biting in countries such as Egypt, which imports more than half of its food because it lacks enough water to grow more. In Australia, there is a water shortage in the Murray-Darling basin because so much has been diverted for use in agriculture. In the US, there are increasing disputes with Mexico over the sinking levels the Colorado river.
Water shortages are compounded by corruption, according to Transparency International. David Nussbaum, chief executive, said between 20 and 40 per cent of total investment in the water sector "does not flow to the people who should be getting the clean water and sanitation".
He said big water projects, such as the construction of water networks and treatment facilities, were subject to corruption on a grand scale, but that petty corruption was also common - for instance people paying bribes to have water bills reduced. The result of both was that it cost poor people more to get access to water, he said.
But he pointed to the success of a high-profile water "integrity pact", developed in Karachi in Pakistan since 2002 and completed in May this year, as an example of how water projects could be made more transparent. The pact had saved at least $3m (￡1.6m) that would otherwise have been lost to corruption.
渴！全球缺水趋势“快于预期”
全球三分之一的人口正面临缺水问题，这加大了中国、印度和美国等国爆发“水荒”的可能性。
2000年的时候，科学家曾预言，到2025年，全球三分之一的人口将面临缺水问题，但水资源专家们吃惊地发现，这一关口已被突破。
国际水资源管理研究所(International Water Management Institute)所长弗兰克?里斯柏曼(Frank Rijsberman)表示：“为了应对日益严重的水资源短缺危机，我们将必须改变常规做法。”
全球约四分之一人口生活在“物理性缺水”地区。在这些地区，自然力量、过度使用以及糟糕的农业生产方式等因素，导致地下水位不断下降，江河日益干涸。但另外还有10亿人口面临“经济性缺水”，他们缺乏必要的基础设施从江河和含水层取水。
上述发现出自于一份由700位专家历时5年编写的报告。这份来自国际水资源管理研究所的报告，对农业用水管理进行了全面评估，并于昨日在瑞典斯德哥尔摩举行的世界水周(World Water Week)上发表。世界水周是水资源专家的国际会议。
报告协调人大卫?莫尔登(David Molden)表示：“如果我们继续以目前的方式来管理水资源，今后将会出现更多的水资源短缺问题。”他表示，可以容易地改进农业生产方式，以减少水资源损耗。
农业用水量比烹饪和洗涤等家庭用途多70倍。在泰国，食品生产的用水量约为每人每天2800升。在意大利，大约需要3300升水来生产每人每天的食品，其中约半数的水用于制作火腿和奶酪，而三分之一的水用于制作意粉和面包。
在埃及等国，缺水问题已非常严重。由于缺少足够的水来生产更多粮食，该国半数以上的食品需要进口。澳大利亚的默里达令盆地(Murray-Darling)也存在缺水问题，原因是大量水资源被转作了农业用途。
在美国，围绕科罗拉多河水位不断下降的问题，该国与墨西哥之间的争议不断加剧。
透明国际(Transparency International)称，腐败现象加剧了水资源短缺问题。该组织首席执行官戴维?努斯鲍姆(David Nussbaum)表示，在对水资源行业的总投资中，有20%至40%的资金“没有流向那些应该获得洁净水和卫生设施的人群。”
他表示，修建水网和水处理设施等大型水资源项目，都容易出现大规模腐败行为，但同时小范围的腐败行为也相当普遍――例如，有人通过行贿来少交水费。他表示，这两种行为造成的后果是，穷人用水需要付出更高代价。
不过，他谈到了引人瞩目的水资源“廉洁协定”(integrity pact)的成功，以此作为如何使水资源项目更为透明的例证。该协定2002年在巴基斯坦的卡拉奇出炉，于今年5月份完成。这一协定节省了至少300万美元，否则的话，这些钱可能落入腐败分子手中。
