Civil Engineering April 2021 | Vol 29 No 3

Water resource management According to the World Economic Forum, a water crisis is one of the highest risks to the world and a crisis with the largest impact. It is estimated that close to one third of the world’s population (approximately 1.8 billion people) will live in water scarce areas by 2025 – this number includes both developing and developed countries. The other two-thirds of the world’s population could very well follow suit. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region specifically has been guilty of unsustainable water use, with more than half of current water withdrawals in some countries exceeding the natural water available. This isn’t hard to believe considering that more than 60% of the region’s population is concentrated in places affected by high or very high surface water stress, compared to a global average of about 35%, according to a recent report by the World Bank. Added to this, water scarcity will also be affected by the changing climate which, by 2050, will cause economic losses estimated at 6% to 14% of GDP. This contributes to an alarming forecast that, at any given time, over half the world’s hospital beds could be filled by people suffering from water-related diseases, according to UNDP. To address this adverse development, large organisations are driving global awareness towards the plight of limited water resources. The World Economic Forum has already raised the alarm, and is supported by multiple NGOs, political agreements, and the United Nations, with the latter having developed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the ambition to transform our world. SDG 6 is to ensure access to water and sanitation for all. THE WATER-FOOD-ENERGY NEXUS As the global population rapidly increases along with urbanisation, the growing John Conboy Danfoss Drives Director Danfoss Middle East & Africa Scarcity of fresh water has become an unavoidable and serious threat Water resources and the proper management thereof is not an alien concept to anyone anywhere in the world. Some struggle with scarcity and some with purification, but the fact remains that the world has been fighting an escalating water crisis. 56 April 2021  Civil Engineering