Water and Human Welfare

Human health and prosperity rely on access to clean water, whether for drinking, for irrigation or for industrial use.Freshwater systems and species are among the planet’s most endangered. Inland water ecosystems are constantly threatened by overexploitation, pollution, climate change, invasive species, and infrastructure development.

Freshwater

Freshwater ecosystems provide immeasurable services and benefits to humans, including water purification.  These freshwater systems depend on water cycles that sustain the social, ecological and hydrological functions of watersheds and wetlands, and also offset pollution. In fact, investing in freshwater ecosystem conservation may be less expensive than building treatment plants to make water safe for human consumption.

Groundwater

Groundwater provides between 1.5 billion and 3 billion people with drinking water.  Contamination and overuse puts that water source at risk. Forty percent of industrial water use and 20% of irrigation water use comes from groundwater, with an even larger dependence on groundwater in arid countries such as Saudi Arabia. 

Water Pollution and Wetland Degradation

Water pollution and wetland degradation reduces water quality, especially in areas where water is already scarce. Toxic chemicals affect the biodiversity and health of the ecosystem, and overuse has resulted in major world rivers such as the Nile, the Yellow and the Colorado no longer reaching to the sea for at least part of the year. Marine and coastal ecosystem degradation from human wastes also threatens human health, as nearly half of those in coastal areas do not have access to sanitation, making them more vulnerable to disease. Development activities near the coast, as well as climate change and destructive fishing, degrade global coastal areas, where 17 percent of the world lives.

Protecting the World’s Watersheds

One-third of the developing world’s 66 largest cities (500 million people) obtain a significant proportion of their drinking water directly from conserved natural watersheds.  Almost 3 billion people live in areas affected by severe water stress.  Freshwater availability in drylands averages only 1,300 cubic meters per person per year, far below the 2,000 cm minimum thresh­old required for human well-being.  Lack of access to clean water and sanitation causes over 2 million deaths per year.  Half of the world’s population could be living in water stressed countries by 2030.  Inadequate water supply is expected to be a factor in 50% of world malnutrition and tied to 10% of global health problems by this date. Protecting the natural systems that produce, regulate, and filter our water – the world’s forests, wetlands, grasslands, and river systems – is a critical insurance policy against future degradation and change in these systems.