Economic Water Scarcity Case Study

An estimated 1.6 billion people around the world live in regions of economic water scarcity, with 780 million of these people living in areas with no basic water facilities. Economic water scarcity means that investments in water resources and relevant human labour forces are not substantial enough to meet water demands in an area where the population does not have the financial means to make use of an adequate water source on their own. Economic water scarcity is about an unequal distribution of resources for many reasons, including political and cultural conflict. Symptoms of economic water scarcity include lack of infrastructure development, causing people to have trouble getting enough water for agriculture or even basic sanitation and

Despite the abundance of water resources, the government at all levels (federal, state and local) have been unable to successfully harness these water resources to ensure sustainable and equitable access to adequate, safe, and affordable water and sanitation for its population. This is an example of economic water scarcity as the region has adequate water resources to cope with demands yet due to lack of infrastructure created by the government, there is an inadequate supply of freshwater for the population and this causes many problems such as disease due to lack of sanitation, poverty and

Irrigated agriculture represents the bulk of demand for water resources worldwide and accounts for 85% of water withdrawals in the MENA region. This water used for irrigation is water that could be used in other ways, including domestic and manufacturing use. In the MENA region, having such a huge portion of their freshwater withdrawals used in the agriculture process is a main factor causing the very low per capita water quantity of <1000 cubic metres per year. Due to its poverty and less developed economic status, the MENA region lacks efficient agricultural technology which would see a decrease in water wasted in the process and an increase in water leftover for human use, therefore a greater quantity of water available per capita. MENA’s average water use efficiency in irrigation is only 50 to 60 percent, compared to best-practice examples of above 80 percent efficiency under similar climatic conditions in Australia and Southwest USA. Because agriculture is necessary to sustain populations the main solution to decrease both water use and water wastage in this sector is to increase efficiency of irrigation by creating new technologies to replace current inefficient ones, especially in countries with water