Pressure rising on global fresh water

HM King Carl XVI Gustaf

More than 1,000 water experts meeting at the 2001 Stockholm Water Symposium and World Water Week, focused on the fact that the world population will increase by up to three billion in the next 25 years. Each person will need a daily supply of fresh water. By 2025, about 2.7 billion people, nearly one-third of the projected population, will live in regions facing severe water scarcity, says a new study by the International Water Management Institute. Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with some of the most heavily populated and poorest regions of the world, will be most affected.

Hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute, 33 national and international organizations, representing hundreds of thousands of people and all regions, gathered together to find solutions to the world's water problems. One serious difficulty is the water conflict between agriculture and the environment. Environmental scientists report that water consumption must be reduced by at least 10% in order to protect rivers, lakes and wetlands. Agricultural scientists say that water usage within agriculture must increase by 20% in order to maintain food supplies and avoid catastrophic starvation.

"The truth is that both sides have a point," said Holland's Crown Prince Willem Alexander, keynote speaker at the official opening of World Water Week. The prince launched the five year long Dialogue on Water, Food and Environment, an international scientific and policy coalition created to resolve the dilemma between agricultural production and environmental protection.

"In developing countries, irrigation today accounts for over 80% of the water consumed, so that the debate among agriculturists and environmentalists on how to manage water for agriculture is of paramount importance to the very poor," says William Cosgrove, of the World Water Council.

World Water Week was filled with celebrations as well as deliberations. The Stockholm Water Prize was presented by HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, on behalf of the Stockholm Water Foundation, to Professor Takashi Asano, a water reuse expert from the University of California at Davis. The award is presented annually for outstanding contributions on behalf of the world's water resources.

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize went for the first time to Swedish students. Youths from 18 countries participated with projects on water and the water environment. For the first time, a student from Canada, Mathieu Brosseau, took part in the contest. Magnus Isacson, Johan Nilvebrant, and Rasmus Öman from Bromma High School received the prize and the (US) $5,000 scholarship for their project, Removal of Metal Ions from Leachate.

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