Strategic Reasons for U.S. Action

Claudia Sadoff, World Bank
Sandra Postel, Global Water Policy Project

"The decline in per capita water availability is really a primary challenge for the developing countries, much more so than the developed countries." — Claudia Sadoff

"One of the biggest challenges we are going to face, is…figuring out how we're going to meet the water demands of 8 billion people, while at the same time protecting the aquatic ecosystems that are supporting economies around the world, and also all terrestrial life..." — Sandra Postel

The first panel began by identifying the characteristics of nations and regions that face the most difficult challenges in supplying water for future generations.

Nations facing rapid economic transformations combined with high populations will experience the greatest difficulties in meeting future water demands. Some of these regions will face absolute water scarcity, meaning a physical shortage of water resources, while others will face economic water scarcity, referring to the inability of a country to access its water resources as a result of economic development or governance challenges. Neither situation is insurmountable, but many developing nations, particularly in Africa, lack the infrastructure and financial resources to manage their water supplies. Potential impacts include stagnant economic growth, decreased agricultural yield, increased likelihood of military conflict, and worsening health conditions. The World Bank has estimated that climate variability and country's inability to store water supplies has cost Kenya the equivalent of $4.8 billion, or 22 percent of GDP, in lost income over recent years. Additionally water scarcity also disproportionately affects women and children with implications for the family's poverty level and the children's access to education.

The panelists also addressed security issues related to growing water scarcity. These concerns range from the threat to food security in countries reliant on irrigated croplands to increasing competition over cross-border water resources to destabilizing forces in water stressed regions. For example, 7 of the 10 countries currently drawing water from the Nile Basin region were recently involved in a domestic or international conflict. Investing in water storage capabilities, electricity generation, sanitation services, and efficient irrigation techniques would effectively mitigate many of these concerns.

Back to Workshop One: U.S. Policy Innovation

Claudia Sadoff
Sandra Postel