CAIRO: A UNESCO report titled “United Nations World Water Development Report 3 presented at the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey was mostly grim.
The report is published every three years to assess the world’s freshwater resources and its significance in economic development.
“Demand for water has never been as great as it is today, and it will only increase due to population growth and mobility, rising living standards, changes in food consumption, and increased energy production, especially biofuels, said a statement about the report.
The global population exponential growth has become a main culprit in the world’s swiftly depleting freshwater resources. According to the study, with an annual global population growth of 80 million individuals, the demand for freshwater has increased to a mouth-dropping 64 billion cubic meters of freshwater per year.
Egypt’s population growth has been following the same trends of many other developing countries. According to data from Egypt’s Desert Research Center, 95 percent of Egypt’s territory consists of dry arid land forcing the population to rely on the water-rich, fertile but narrow Nile Valley for crops. Massive starvation is eminent if the Egyptian government does not initiate massive desert reclamation campaigns.
Water is not just being depleted swiftly with population growth, but the quality of the world’s water is deteriorating at nerve wracking rates. According to the UNESCO report, one child dies every 17 seconds due to uncontrolled diarrhea caused by poor water quality.
“In all, about one tenth of all illnesses worldwide could be avoided by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources, said the report.
Poor water in Egypt has caused a health crisis that is currently spreading like wildfire.
A World Health Organization report supported this claim when it found that most flourosis cases, a serious bone disease, across the Middle East was due to irresponsible water maintenance.
Belharsia, a disease in which a small worm enters the body through water, is caused due to widespread urination in the Nile River by farmers. Overwhelmingly high heavy metal concentrations has been a pending concern and are the reason for massive calls from environmental lobbyists for more efficient water treatment methods.
Yet, the study also indicated a light at the end of the tunnel. Turkey and Australia have started to implement water regulation policies including restrictions against water overuse and increasing the efficiency of water use in projects, such as irrigation and supplying electricity to remote areas.
