Environmental and Human Factors Affecting Patterns and Trends in Physical Water Scarcity and Economic Water Scarcity

The Need to Manage Water is Becoming More Pressing as Demand Increases



  • By 2025, water use for domestic, industrial and livestock purposes is projected to increase by at least 50%.
  • This significant increase will severely limit the water available for use in irrigation, which will increase by just 4%, restricting increases in food production in some parts of the world.
  • 1/3 of the world's population live in countries that are experiencing moderate to high stress on their water supplies.
  • Much of the increase for demand of water will occur in LEDCs or developing countries.

This article from the BBC discusses the pending scramble for water, due to increasing physical water scarcity.  Water-poor but cash-rich nations are looking to purchase territory in LEDCs to have renewed access to water with which they may become self-sufficient in food production and water supplies.  The Pending Scramble for Water - BBC News

  • Physical Water Scarcity occurs in places where the demand for water exceeds the supply
    • This is most common in arid and semi-arid areas where rainfall is low and river flow fluctuates
    • As seen in the map above, this includes North Africa, the Middle East, and North-Central Asia.  Similar issues face the Southwest of the United States, Northern Mexico, and Southern Australia

  • Human and Environmental Factors:
    • Location
      • The environment of the region; areas with low rainfall, low groundwater supplies, few lakes or rivers, and generally arid conditions have difficulties accessing water, simply because it is not readily available
      • An example is Saudi Arabia, where desert conditions mean that there is little accessible fresh water.  Most water must be removed from the ocean and desalinated, a costly procedure.
    • Depletion
      • Increasing human use has resulted in limited water supplies shrinking continuously (especially groundwater supplies, which in essence are a non-renewable resource, and rivers that are diverted for a variety of reasons)
      • Competing agricultural, industrial and human interests.  In many nations, increasing population results in a corresponding need for increased agricultural and industrial production.  As all three grow, and water supplies do not, there is invariably a conflict.  This is only in cases where the environment dictates low existing water supplies, thus affects mainly the nations coloured in red on the map above.
    • Waste and Misuse
      • In LEDCs, 60% to 75% of water used in irrigation is lost through leakage, evaporation or runoff, and is never used for its intended agricultural purpose. In regions with limited water supplies, this is critical.
      • Some urban areas insist on using water for ornamental purposes (ex. fountains), when much water is lost to evaporation or leakage.  Similarly, water used to irrigate ornamental plants, especially grass, severely affects many wealthy nations (for causes like golf courses)
The Gobi Desert in Asia is a region with very low water supplies,
yet a growing population in areas like Western China.
This article discusses the increasing physical water scarcity in the Middle East resulting from declining water supplies.  The authors credit global warming for continuing scarcity, and claim that the future holds only more danger and difficulty in accessing water for these regions.  Climate Change Threatens Mideast Water Supply - The Montreal Gazette

  • Economic Water Scarcity occurs when water is available but some people cannot afford to obtain it for reasons of poverty
    • This is most common in LEDCs, especially among poor living in shanty settlements in the cities
    • This includes Sub-Saharan Africa, and some parts of Southern and Southeast Asia.

  • Human and Environmental Factors:
    • Price of Water
      • As mentioned under the section referring to Cost in the "Access to Clean Drinking Water" post of this blog, governments sometimes purposely raise the cost of water to cajole consumers not to waste it.  In LEDCs, water is difficult to attain or unaffordable to begin with, and this causes severe issues.
    • Distance and Cost
      • Water supplies may not be in accessible locations (namely in many African villages, where women are forced to walk miles to have access to fresh water)  The loss of income associated with this, or perhaps the price of water once it is found, results in economic scarcity
    • Pollution
      • The cost of technology to clean water makes it impossible for many people to gain access to clean water, resulting in the use of water polluted by chemicals, household materials or human and animal waste, or no water at all
    • Societal Factors
      • Housing, especially in slums or shanty towns, means that water is difficult for regular people to access, due to nonexistent household connections (pipes) or wells.  Wars or conflicts often result in regions already affected by limited water supplies, disrupting access to that water.
Indian women carrying water long distances from the source
to their homes.  This restricts their access to water.
The countries listed above are all subject to economic water scarcity.