Never are we more aware of how important water is when we don't have access to a safe, clean constant supply. But worldwide there are millions of people who don't because of social, economic and political inequities and climate change.

Science and technology have provided methods for measuring water shortages, for predicting weather events causing droughts and floods and for purifying and storing water for future use but they cannot replace human efforts required to implement them.

The story of water preservation and protection in Arizona began more than a century ago when farmers, politicians, water management groups, public utilities and consumer advocates recognized its importance and began working together to plan for Arizona's future water needs. Water now weaves through our state within the Salt River Project (SRP) lakes and reservoirs and through the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal.

Arizona has been in the midst of a drought for more than two decades. Even though the water levels in our lakes and reservoirs have declined as the amount of groundwater has ebbed and flowed, our future water supply should be secure if we take care of it.

Before exploring this website, please review the information in the Site Notes section.

 
Importance

Water regulates body temperature, assists in nutrient absorption, helps fight off illness and does many other things to maintain the wellness of living creatures. ^[1],[2]

Water is also used in agriculture, transportation for moving goods across oceans and in rivers, as a universal solvent,water is capable of dissolving more substances than any other liquid for putting out fires and for hydroelectric powerthe use of flowing water to power a turbine to produce electrical energy production.

Water is far more. It is necessary for sustainable socio-economic development, human productivity, healthy ecosystems and a key factor in managing epidemics, famine, social inequality and political instability.^[3]

The United Nations estimated that the world's population reached 8 billion on November 15, 2022. It took 12 years for the global population to grow from 7 to 8 billion. It is expected to reach 9 billion by 2037, meaning that the planetary population is increasing, but at a declining rate.^[4]

But countries with the highest fertility rates are usually those with the lowest per capita income, meaning that global population growth is now concentrated in the world's poorest countries. Most are in Africa where development of water systems can't keep up with sustained rapid population growth.^[4]

Rising per capita incomes create unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Countries with the highest per capita incomes also produce the most greenhouse gases, causing drought and flooding and disproportionately affecting water supplies in poorer countries.^[4]

Water resources require short-term and long-term management. Increased competition for water, pollution, technological breakthroughs, global warminga gradual increase in the overall temperature of the Earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants and climate changea change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels lead to stresses on, threats to and water imbalances among the hydrosphere,the combined mass of water found on, under, and above Earth's surface biosphere,the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere occupied by living organisms atmosphere,the layer of gases surrounding a planet or moon cryosphereportions of a planet's surface where water is solid, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground and lithosphere.the rigid outer part of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle

A 2023 WWF International report stated:

• more than onethird of the world's food production directly depends on rivers through their crucial role in sustaining freshwater fisheries, irrigated cropland, flood-recession agriculture and fertile deltas
• food security, health, gender equality and conflict prevention require better water management, stewardship and protection
• water is critical to the production of goods, transportation through inland waterways and all forms of energy production
• freshwater ecosystems maintain marine and terrestrial biodiversity
• water quality reflects the effects of climate change through droughts, floods and water pollution
• wetlands filter pollution, floodplains absorb floods and aquifers and springs provide high-quality water.^[5]

The economic benefits of water are enormous:

• the total quantifiable economic use value of water in 2021 was approximately $58 trillion, about 60% of global GDP
• the direct consumption of goods and services provided by water for households, agriculture and other industries is about $7.5 trillion per year
• indirect benefits of water are estimated at about $50 trillion annually.^[5]

The 2023 WWF International report concluded:

Everyone has a role to play in tackling the world's freshwater crisis but real progress depends on urgent action by key stakeholders. Local, national and transboundary policymakers, business and finance leaders, and civil society organisations need to mobilise around fundamentally changing the way the world values and manages water and freshwater ecosystems.^[5]

All citizens of planet Earth have a responsibility to care for our water by practicing water conservation, encouraging new water uses that improve standard of living and sanitation, and learning about this rare and precious resource.

 
Habitable Zone

Europa
Europa
NASA
Sep. 7, 1996
Wikipedia Europa
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Europa_(moon)#/media/
File:Europa-moon-with-margins.jpg
public domain

Enceladus
Enceladus
NASA/JPL
Oct. 28, 2015
Wikipedia Enceladus
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Enceladus#/media/File:
PIA17202_-_Approaching_Enceladus.jpg
public domain

At approximately 150 million kilometers, Earth is the third planet from the Sun. We live in the habitable zone,also called the "Goldilock's zone," the orbital region around a star in which an Earth-like planet can possess liquid water on its surface and possibly support life where H₂O can simultaneously exist in all three forms, as ice, liquid water and water vapor.^[1]

Our neighbor Venus, the second planet from the Sun, at about 108 million kilometers, is surrounded by a thick carbon dioxideCO₂, a colorless, odorless, incombustible gas atmosphere and sulfuric acida strong acid made by oxidizing solutions of sulfur dioxide clouds. It has a surface pressure 92 times that of Earth, and a temperature of 864^oF (462^oC). If Venus ever had water, it disappeared long ago as a result of Venus' runaway greenhouse effect. occurs when a planet's atmosphere contains greenhouse gases that block heat escaping from the planet, preventing the planet from cooling and from having liquid water on its surface^[2]

Our other neighbor, Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, at about 228 million kilometers, has a very thin carbon dioxide atmosphere and no surface water, although ice has been detected below its surface, where the pressure is less than 1% of that at Earth's surface.^[3]

Phoenix,
Phoenix Lander
NASA/JPL/Corby Waste
Jan. 1, 2007
Wikipedia Phoenix spacecraft
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Phoenix_(spacecraft)#/
media/File:Phoenix_
landing.jpg
public domain Spirit,
Spirit Rover
NASA/JPL
Apr. 5, 2009
Wikipedia Spirit Mars Rover
https://no.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Spirit_(Mars-rover)#/
media/Fil:Spirit_
Rover_Model.jpg
public domain Opportunity,
Opportunity Rover
NASA/JPL
Oct. 28, 2015
Wikipedia Opportunity Mars Rover
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Opportunity_(rover)#/
media/File:NASA_Mars
_Rover.jpg
public domain and Curiosity
Curiosity Rover
NASA
Oct. 7. 2015
Wikipedia Curiosity Mars Rover
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#/
media/File:Curiosity_
Self-Portrait
_at_'Big_Sky'_Drilling_Site.jpg
public domain are four of history's most successful Mars missions. Phoenix located ice near Mars' north pole.^[4] Opportunity landed in a crater, where it found the mineral hematite,a common iron oxide black to steel or silver-gray, brown to reddish-brown, or red in color that usually precipitates from water and collect in layers at the bottom of a lake, spring, or other standing water which usually forms in water. Spirit found rocks ten times richer in magnesium and iron carbonates than any other Martian rocks previously found. These rocks formed when Mars was warm, wet, had neutral pHscale used to specify how acidic or alkaline a water-based solution is, acidic solutions have lower pH, and alkaline solutions have higher pH water and a thicker carbon dioxide atmosphere.^[5]

Sources:

 
Origin and Structure

Water, as part of Earth's hydrosphere,the combined mass of water found on, under, and above Earth's surface is formed from hydrogen and oxygen, two of the three most abundant elements in the universe. Throughout Earth's history, water has been a central link among Earth's atmosphere,the layer of gases surrounding a planet or moon cryosphere,portions of a planet's surface where water is solid, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground biospherethe regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere occupied by living organisms and lithosphere.the rigid outer part of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle Interactions between water and land formed oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams through erosion, providing life a place to thrive for millions of years.^[1]

In space, ice acts as a surface for the formation of organic compoundsa chemical compound in which carbon atoms are are linked to hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen atoms that are precursors for life and that eventually became incorporated into cometsa celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust which develops a gas tail that points away from the Sun and asteroidsa small rocky body orbiting the Sun in the early Solar System.^[2]

Scientists speculate that most of Earth's water arrived with extraterrestrial assistance, not from aliens, but from comets and asteroids. By counting the numbers of protonsa positively-charged subatomic particle in atomic nuclei and neutronsa neutrally-charged subatomic particle in atomic nuclei in water molecules they can determine whether those molecules have the usual 10 protons and 8 neutrons, or if those molecules are water isotopesone of two or more species of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number and position in the periodic table and nearly identical chemical behaviour but with different atomic masses and physical properties with a different number of protons.^[3]

The proportion of deuteriumisotope of hydrogen with a nucleus consisting of one proton and one neutron found in Earth's water, in comet 46P/Wirtanen
46P/Wirtanen
S. Mandrel
Dec. 12, 2018
Wikipedia 46P/Wirtanen
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/46P/Wirtanen#/media/File:
Comet_46P_Wirtanen_on_
12_December_2018_(cropped).png
CC BY-ND 4.0 and in Vesta,
Vesta
NASA/JPL/Cal Tech
Aug. 2, 2011
Wikipedia 4 Vesta
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/4_Vesta#/media/
File:Vesta_Rotation.gif
public domain a large asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, are about the same, meaning that both comets and asteroids may have contributed to Earth's water.^[3]

A 2023 study, based on exoplaneta planet that orbits a star outside of the solar system data, speculates that chemical reactions that occurred during Earth's formation could have produced enough water to fill Earth's oceans Hydrogen has been found in the atmospheres of exoplanets similar to Earth, implying that our planet may have also had that element in abundance.^[4]

Sources:

 
Earth History

Earth has changed significantly during its 4.6 billion-year history. There have been long periods of stability, interrupted by violent events and temperature changes causing mass extinctions.refers to an event when many species die off in a relatively short period of geological time ^[1]

Scientists speculate that 770 million years ago the Earth may have been covered in ice, a period referred to as Snowball Earth. One theory states that sulfur gas particles, from large volcanic eruptions, were absorbed by the atmosphere, reacted with solar radiation and cooled the planet. These conditions may have caused an explosion of multicellular organisms.^[1]

The Carboniferous period, about 350 million years ago, was known for marshy forest communities inhabited by ancestors of reptiles, mammals and amphibians. Permanent ice caps covered Earth's poles.^[1]

About 305 million years ago, carbon dioxide levels increased, preventing heat from escaping the atmosphere. Earth warmed, dried and endured intense seasonal changes. Carboniferous rainforest plants suffered, leading to a change in plant and animal communities and the age of the dinosaurs.^[1]

The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event occured about 66 million years ago, when an asteroid collided with Earth at Yucatán, Mexico. The collision created the Chicxulub crater.
Chicxulub crater
NASA/JPL
Feb. 1, 2000
Wikipedia Chicxulub crater
https://simple.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Chicxulub_crater#/media/
File:Yucatan_chix_crater.jpg
public domain

A huge cloud of ash, dust and other debris was absorbed by the atmosphere, blocking sunlight. Phytoplanktonplankton consisting of microscopic plants and plant photosynthesisprocess by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water stopped and dinosaurs disappeared.^[1]

Scientists are debating on an official start of the Anthropocene, but some believe it began near the end of the 18th century when the industrial revolution began. Others claim that nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s and an acceleration of destructive human activity changed our planet.^[7]

A decade of American and Australian dust storms, declining bald eagle populations, and the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962, exposing the devastating use of pesticides, resulted in the 1972 ban of DDT.^[7]

In 1979, David Attenborough's Life on Earth series brought distant wildlife and environments into the homes of 25 million television watchers.^[7]

Reports by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations and increased worldwide media coverage began to educate the public about the devastating effects of climate change.^[7]

Sources:

 
Water History

Since the Bronze Age, between 3200 to 1100 BC, domestic wastewater was used for irrigation and aquaculture in China, Egypt, the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia and Crete.^[2] Traces of wells, rainwater channels and toilets were discovered in these cities.^[1] The growth of permanent settlements led to the development of collection systems for this wastewater and for stormwater.^[2] The Assyrians built the first known agricultural aqueducts about 2,700 years ago to move water 50 miles across northern Iraq to Nineveh.^[5]

During the late fourth millennium BC, walled cities in southern Mesopotamia, near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, were established on intensive irrigation agriculture that required canal maintenance.^[3]

Ancient Greek doctors recognized the importance of clear, clean, tasteless water and Romans discovered that water circulated through ceramic pipes, rather than lead, had fewer negative health effects.^[1]

Between 1000 BC to 330 AD, wastewater was used for irrigation and fertilization in areas surrounding important cities, including Athens and Rome.^[2] The Romans also created an advanced network of aqueducts for bringing water to Rome and other major cities.^[5] Ionian philosophers recognized that all of Earth's water is recycled and reused and the existence of the water cycle and evaporation.^[2]

Archaeological evidence demonstrated that during the 4th and 5th centuries the Romans cleaned their aqueducts approximately every five years to remove carbonate deposits.^[4]

Sanitation systems arose in Great Britain, spread across Europe and arrived in the U.S. These systems limited the spread of water-borne diseases, including cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever that scientists discovered in water supplies.^[1]

Between 330 and 1400 AD in Medieval Europe water technology and knowledge made little progress because of frequent wars. Disease outbreaks were common and epidemicsa widespread occurrence of an infectious disease wiped out town and village residents. In Europe, about 25% of the population died due to cholera, plague, and other water born diseases due to unregulated waste disposal.^[2]

The Aztec made other contributions to water resource planning including management of saline water and fresh water, control of the lake levels to avoid floods and management of urban wastewater and agriculture to increase food security.^[2]

Around A1400, the Incas at Machu Picchu transported drinking water from a distant mountain spring to their capitol using an extensive series of sloping canals.^[5]

Beginning in 1531, wastewater was used for crop production in Bunzlau, modern-day Poland, and later in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1650.^[2]

The earliest planned piped water distribution systems were installed for firefighting. The first was installed in Boston in 1652. Cisterns were connected to stone tubes and hollowed-out logs to transport water to important buildings and neighborhoods.^[5]

Cast iron pipes, introduced in the 1800s enabled pressurized water to be moved over long distances and through elevation changes.^[5] Sanitation practices re-emerged in the mid-nineteenth century following the great epidemics in several regions of the world and water filtering and chlorinationwater disinfection by adding chlorine were introduced into municipal water supplies.^[2]

Modern water and wastewater systems became common after 1910. High volume, advanced water filtration and treatment facilities were built in London, Paris, New York and Chicago.^[5]

By the mid-20th century, the health effects of biological hazards, including chemical and radioactive waste, were discovered, but not eliminated. About 10,000 people die every day from dysentery, cholera, and other diseases cause by unsafe water and inadequate sanitation. Most are members of marginalized groups, refugees and the poor.^[1]

About 80% of the world's wastewater and over 95% in some under developing countries is released into rivers and streams, where it is diluted and transported downstream or infiltrated into aquifers.a body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater^[2]

As the world's population grows, unplanned potable reuse and the methods used to purify this water for human consumption will become more important.^[2]

Sources:

 
Climate Change

In addition to water, most terrestrial life depends on solar energy. About half of the sunlight reaching our atmosphere strikes the surface, where it is absorbed and radiated as infrared light, also called heat. About 90% of this heat is absorbed by greenhouse gases and reradiated, slowing heat loss into space.^[1]

There is ample evidence for human-caused climate change:

• the current warming rate has not occurred in the past 10,000 years
• information derived from ice cores, rocks, tree rings and satellites demonstrate a changing climate
• global and ocean temperatures are rising
• ice sheets and sea ice are melting and glaciers are retreating
• ocean temperatures are increasing^[7]
• in the last 75 years the number of record high temperature events has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing
• since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution surface ocean water acidity increased by about 30% due to human-related CO₂ emission into the atmosphere
• Earth's average surface temperature has risen about 1 C^o, 2 F^o, since the late 19th century, caused by increased CO₂ emissions most atmospheric warming occurred in the past 40 years
• NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment showed that Greenland lost an average of 279 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2019 and Antarctica lost about 148 billion tons of ice per year
• glaciers are retreating in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa
• during the last 5 decades Northern Hemisphere snow has decreased and melts earlier in the year
• since 1969 the top 100 meters, 328 feet, of Earth's ocean have warmed by 0.33 C^o, 0.67 F^o
• global sea level rose about 20 centimeters, 8 inches, in the last century but over the last two decades that rate has accelerated, causing the oceans to absorb between 20% and 30% of total anthropogenicrefers to environmental change caused or influenced by people, either directly or indirectly carbon dioxide emissions, between 7.2 and 10.8 billion metric tons per year.^[22]

The U.N. has determined that:

• by 2050, the number of people at risk of floods will increase from its current level of 1.2 billion to 1.6 billion
• in the early to mid-2010s, 1.9 billion people, 27% of the global population, lived in potential severely water-scarce areas and by 2050, this will increase to 2.7 to 3.2 billion people
• more than one-fifth of the world's basins have recently experienced either rapid increases in their surface water area indicative of flooding, a growth in reservoirs and newly inundated land or rapid declines in surface water area indicating drying up of lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, floodplains and seasonal water bodies
• new climate change mitigation pledges for 2030 need to be four times higher to limit global warming to 2C^o and seven times higher to get on track to limit global warming to 1.5 C^o (degree changes are noted as C^o or F^o while specific temperatures are noted as ^oC or ^oF)
• current Arctic sea-ice cover is at its lowest level since at least 1850 and is projected to reach practically ice-free conditions at its summer minimum at least once before 2050^[18]

Northeast:

• heat waves, heavy rain, sea level rise
• infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries and ecosystems will be increasingly threatened
• new crop options will probably be available, but at higher costs and risks
• adaptation may not be able to keep up with climate change
• states and cities are incorporating climate change into long-term planning^[11]

• changes in river and stream peak flows are reducing water supplies
• competing demands for water
• sea level rise, erosion, flooding, risks to infrastructure and increasing ocean acidity are major threats
• increasing incidence of wildfires
• heat waves, insect outbreaks and tree diseases causing widespread forest death^[11]

• sea level rise poses widespread and continuing threats to economy and environment
• extreme heat will affect health, energy and agriculture
• decreased water availability will have economic and environmental impacts^[11]

• extreme heat, heavy rain and flooding
• damage to infrastructure, health, agriculture, forestry, transportation and air and water quality
• the Great Lakes are at environmental risk^[11]

• increased heat, drought, and insect outbreaks
• increase in number and severity of wildfires
• decline in water supplies, reduced agricultural yields and triggered heat-related health impacts in cities
• coastal flooding and erosion in some states^[11]

In 1905 the Colorado River flooded a dry basin, creating California's Salton Sea. It became a haven for tourists and wildlife. By the 1980s, the sea was cut off from its Colorado water supply, sustained by agricultural runoff, full of pesticides and fertilizers.^[13]

The sea's local community consists primarily of Latino agricultural workers and Indigenous Tribe members, now subjected to the smell of rotting fish and lead and chromium toxins. Blowing dust, laced with harmful algae and bacteria, affects more than 650,000 people in surrounding communities.^[13]

Since 2003, the sea's surface area declined by 38 square miles, leaving behind a mass store of briny lithium, an important component of electric vehicle batteries and clean energy storage. Efforts to mine this element may further damage the drying sea.^[13]

Alternatives to restore the sea, including bringing water from the Sea of Cortez and building a desalination plant were suggested but have not yet been implemented.^[13]

The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty, was adopted on December 12, 2015 by 196 parties at COP 21 in Paris. It entered into force on November 4, 2016.^[5]

The agreement marked the first time nations united in a common cause to combat climate change. Its goal is to limit global warming to 1.5C^o by reducing greenhouse gases.^[5] (Degree changes are noted as C^o or F^o while specific temperatures are noted as ^oC or ^oF.)

The countries agreed to:

• recognize the emergency, reaffirming the Paris Agreement goal limiting global average temperature increase to below 2^oC above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5C^o
• accelerate action, because carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced by 45% to reach net zero around mid-century
• move away from fossil fuels
• deliver on climate finance, reaffirming the pledge of $100 billion for developing countries
• increase adaptation support to protect lives and livelihoods
• complete the Paris rulebook on the implementation of the Paris Agreement
• acknowledge that climate change has impacts on people
• strengthen the Santiago Network connecting vulnerable countries with providers of technical assistance, knowledge and resources to address climate risks.^[4]

• 137 countries committing to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030
• 103 countries, including 15 major emitters, signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, aiming to limit methane emissions by 30% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels
• more than 30 countries committed to producing zero-emission new car and van sales by 2040
• leaders from South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, and the European Union announced a partnership supporting South Africa's transition from coal because South Africa is the world's most carbon-intensive electricity producer
• private financial institutions and central banks announced moves to realign trillions of dollars towards achieving global net zero emissions, including the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, with more than 450 firms across 45 countries control $130 trillion in assets.^[4]

In September 2022, Denmark became the first country to pledge funding for climate-related loss and damage. The country vowed to spend more than $13 million to help developing nations taking the biggest hit from rising global temperatures. The world's most vulnerable countries, like Bangladesh and Haiti need far more, but Denmark's effort is a start.^[10]

Environmental justice advocates and developing world leaders have argued that rich countries bear a greater responsibility for causing climate damage and should pay for economic losses, damaged infrastructure and other climate-related destruction.^[10]

Wealthy countries like the U.S. have oppposed efforts to create a dedicated loss and damage fund, claiming that a financial commitment would imply that rich countries, the primary polluters, are legally liable for climate damage.^[10]

But in November 2022, new pledges made during the United Nations climate conference in Egypt are aimed at directly aiding vulnerable countries. New Zealand committed $12 million to support Pacific Islanders, Belgium $2.6 million to Mozambique, and Austria $52 million over four years for a disaster support initiative.^[16] During summer 2022, Jordanians went without water for as long as three weeks. Population growth, decreasing water supplies and climate change, damaged and inefficient infrastructure and geographical challenges have only made things worse. The resulting shortages serve as a warning of what the future might hold for the region's water future.^[14]

Rainfall has significantly decreased during the last few decades. Warmer temperatures mean that rain evaporates quickly. Longer and hotter summers have also shortened growing seasons.^[14]

The Jordan River, which used to feed the Dead Sea,
Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee in Jordan
NASA
Aug. 26, 2006
Wikipedia Dead Sea
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Dead_Sea#/media/File:
Dead_Sea_Galilee.jpg
public domain
is now flowing at less than 10% of its historical average and its tributary, the Yarmouk River has been significantly affected by a water shortage.^[14]

The rivers Jordan shares with Israel and Syria have been diverted by those countries for many years, leading to Jordan's reliance on water extracted from underground aquifers. whic are being drained at twice the rate at which they are naturally replenished. This water is about 60% of the country's water supply.^[14]

Jordan's population is more than 11 million and includes more than 760,000 people registered with the United Nations as refugees, who are particularly affected by the water crisis because they are unable to afford transported water. The average amount of water available each year to a Jordanian resident, about 80 cubic meters, is far below the absolute water scarcity threshold of 500 cubic meters set by the United Nations.^[14]

A large-scale desalination project in the port city of Aqaba on the Red Sea is being planned, but it will be many years before the plant is operational. Jordanian farmers were using abut 70% of the country's water supply, but increased efficiency and lower water-use crops have lowered agricultural use to 50%. Another solution involves buying water from Israel. In November 2022, Jordan and Israel signed a water-for-energy agreement at the United Nations climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh.^[14]

In Iran inflation, poverty, mismanagement and misguided agriculture policies have caused groundwater and reservoirs to dry up. As temperatures rise droughts have become more intense and remaining water supplies in some regions have become salty and unpotable. Iranian government officials said that in June 2023 the poor, rural southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan will run out of water in a few months. A member of Parliament reported that it was so hot that a streetlight melted.^[20]

Vanuatu
Vanuatu
TUBS
May 6, 2011
Wikipedia Vanuatu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Vanuatu#/media/File:Vanuatu_on
_the_globe_(Polynesia_centered).svg
CC BY-SA 3.0 is a tiny country of 13 main and other smaller islands made of volcanic rock and coral, located about 800 kilometers west of Fiji and about 1,800 kilometers east of Australia. Its population is about 320,000. According to the U.N., it is more vulnerable to natural disasters than any other country on Earth and has recently been damaged by cyclones and earthquakes. Residents have been forced to move to higher ground as sea level has risen.^[21]

Vanuatu is a leader in advocating for climate justice on behalf of Pacific Island nations. In November 2022, at the 27th U.N. COP27 conference in Egypt, its leaders' advocacy for climate reparations resulted in the creation of an international fund to pay for climate-driven loss and damage. The nation also persuaded a majority of U.N. countries to obtain an advisory opinion on the responsibility of states to deal with climate change from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world's highest court.^[21]

Carbon dioxide equivalent is measured in metrics tons. It is the standard unit of measure for climate change sustainability goals and targets, and a method for converting greenhouse gases based on their global warming potential (GWP)a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide This standardization allows for universal measurement. For example, one metric ton of methane has a GWP of 29.8 times that of CO₂.^[2]

Climate change obstructionists use several methods to counter climate change protection and action:

• fossil fuel corporations like ExxonMobil, fund misinformation campaigns, lobby politicians and provide campaign contributions to stifle climate change legislation
• conservative foundations, some funded by the Koch Brothers, fund think tanks that distribute climate change disinformation
• corportate employees and paid actors deliberately distribute disinformation at staged events
• trade associations, including the Global Climate Coalition, the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth and the Coalition for Vehicle Choice, pretend to be pro-environment, but are not
• advertizing firms hired by fossil fuel companies create deceptive public relations campaigns to promote public opposition to climate change mitigation efforts
• front groups, like the former Greening Earth Society, promote false ideas, including the idea that increased carbon dioxide is environmentally beneficial
• contrarian scientists, sometimes working at large universities, receive disproportionate attention for their views denying climate change
• conservatie media, including Fox News, amplifies climate change disinformation
• Republican politicians, like Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, who frequently attack climate scientists.^[9]

• This is the coldest winter we've had in years! So much for global warming.
  Those making this claim confuse weather and climate.
• Climate change is natural and normal and has happened throughout history.
  Global warming and cooling have occurred in the past, however, during those periods there were devastating environmental disruptions, including mass extinctions.
• There is no scientific consensus that climate change is real.
  There is nearly 100% agreement among scientists. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) determined that global warming is accelerating, and will reach 1C^o above pre-Industrial levels around 2030. (Degree changes are noted as C^o or F^o while specific temperatures are noted as ^oC or ^oF.)
• Plants and animals can adapt.
  They can't. Human-induced climate change is happening too rapidly for species to adapt.
• Climate change is good for us.
  Climate change causes droughts, floods, crop failures, mass migrations, fires, home destruction and sickness, resulting in human trafficking, forced labor, other human rights abuses and death. The economic cost to the global economy is estimated to be $23 trillion by 2050.
• Maybe climate change is real, but it is too late to do anything about it.
  If governments, business, and individuals begin taking drastic action now, we can keep warming within the 1.5C^o target set by the Paris Agreement.^[9]

• Alarmed - most engaged, worried about global warming and strongly supporting climate action
• Concerned - think global warming is a significant threat but prioritize it less and are less likely to take action
• Cautious - aware of climate change but uncertain about its causes and are not very worried
• Disengaged - largely unaware of global warming
• Doubtful - don't think it is caused by human activity and see it as low risk
• Dismissive - reject the reality of human-caused global warming and oppose climate change policies^[12]

• make it personal and concrete
• use clear, simple and accessible language
• help individuals and groups to feel empowered to affect change
• provide solutions that can be achieved in gradual steps
• encourage collaboration
• give examples of existing and socially acceptable environmental conservation-related behaviors
• utilize trusted sources
• use preemptive warnings when including climate change denial information.^[19]

Climate TRACE is a nonprofit coalition of environmental groups, technology companies and scientists. The project uses software to collect and analyze satellite and other data project emissions for countries, industries and individual polluting facilities. It catalogs more than 72,000 steel and cement factories, power plants, oil and gas fields, cargo ships and cattle feedlots. Climate TRACE is working with regional governments in Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Spain and Italy to provide information about local emissions.^[15]

Sources:

 
Water Quality

• 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services
• almost 2 billion people depend on health care facilities without basic water services
• over half of the global population or 4.2 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services
• 297,000 children under five die every year from diarrheal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene or unsafe drinking water
• 2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress
• 90% of natural disasters are weather-related, including floods and droughts
• 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused
• about two-thirds of the world's transboundary rivers do not have a cooperative management framework
• agriculture accounts for 70% of global water withdrawal^[4]

UNESCO's 2022 Water Development Report emphasized the importance of caring for Earth's groundwater, which accounts for about 99% of all liquid freshwater on Earth. Nearly 50% of the world's urban population depends on underground water sources.^[5]

Gross domestic product (GDP)total monetary value of all finished goods and services produced in a country per capita and urbanizationconcentration of human populations into towns and cities as a percent of land area for countries with the best water versus those with the worst differ significantly.^[2] The average GDP for the best 10 is more than 29 times that of the worst 10, and the average urbanization for the best 10 is nearly three times that of the worst 10.

The major issues affecting water are water pollution, inequitable distribution and regulation, climate change, natural disasters, conflict, water waste, lack of water data, lack of international water policy cooperation, lack of infrastructure and forced migration and refugee crises.^[5],[36]

• nearly 75% of all natural disasters between 2001 and 2018 were water-related and included droughts and floods that contaminated water and facilitated water-borne diseases
• crises in Syria, Central African Republic and Ukraine have created situtations where water shortages have been used as a weapon
• worldwide 44% of household wastewater is reused without being treated resulting in cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio outbreaks
• 900 billion gallons of water are wasted due to leaks
• the UN reported that it lacks data for the water usage of more than 3 billion people
• many water bodies are shared among two or more countries that do not necessarily share the will or technologies to keep that water clean
• water systems degrade due to destruction, mismanagement, lack of funding and lack of attention.^[36]

Arab region:

• one of the most water-scarce in the world
• groundwater is the most relied-upon water source in at least 11 of the 22 Arab states
• over-extraction has led to groundwater table declines
• groundwater is the primary source of water for vulnerable, disconnected groups and those lacking public resources
• unsustainable agricultural practices and industrialization and urbanization are negatively affecting groundwater quality
• most groundwater resources are non-renewable
• difficulty monitoring groundwater extraction despite use of new technologies
• cooperation among regional countries is minimal but required to manage groundwater resources^[5]

• world's largest groundwater extractor, including seven of the 10 largest: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey
• these countries alone account for about 60% of the world's total groundwater withdrawal
• used heavily for agricultural, industrial and municipal needs
• groundwater is abundant but its depletion is leading to sustainability concerns
• contamination from both anthropogenicrelated to human activity and geogenicrelating to the Earth processes
• unrestricted access and lack of management practices and regulatory systems threaten future availability^[5]
• Managing the Water-Energy-Land-Food Nexus in Korea addressed policy recommendations and governance for sustained growth^[8]

• faces major challenges to ensure a sustainable water supply
• state and territory governments are responsible for managing water within their jurisdictions
• the Australian Government provides national coordination and leadership^[11]
• the 2004 National Water Initiative commits territories to prepare water plans, achieve sustainable water use, register water rights, expand trade in water rights, improve water storage and delivery pricing and better manage urban water demands^[12]

• resources vary by country based on geography, geology and availability
• groundwater principally used for drinking water
• need to control water quality to reduce health risks
• most common pollutants are agricultural nitrates and pesticides and mining chemicals
• more information on emerging pollutants is needed
• increasing awareness of the transboundary groundwater resources and need for international cooperation
• monitoring and expertise available from specialized institutions that need to cooperate^[5]
• European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment developed the Environment Initiative on the Economic Aspects of Implementing the EU Water Framework and Floods Directives to address planning, financing, pollution and water scarcity^[7]

• abundant surface water and the limited groundwater use
• less than 30% of freshwater comes from groundwater sources
• in countries relying on groundwater, approximately half of the extraction is used for irrigation, a third is for domestic use and the rest for industrial use
• limited protection and monitoring of groundwater, which is exploited and contaminated
• sustainability and accessibility affect the most vulnerable populations, who depend on these groundwater sources for drinking water
• represents 50% of the water used by the industrial sector
• political processes requiring monitoring and management are required to meet future water needs^[5]
• Making Water Reform Happen in Mexico included an assessment and policy recommendations to support Mexico's water reform^[9]

• Water Charges in Brazil assessed implementation challenges, possible solutions, water security issues security issues and enhancement of economic growth and social welfare^[10]

• has large groundwater resources estimated to be more than 100 times that of the annual renewal of the region's freshwater resources
• groundwater development could satisfy the need for a rapidly increasing water supply across Sub-Saharan Africa
• about 400 million people do not have access to basic water services
• most countries in Western and Central Africa have little groundwater storage but high annual rainfall and regular recharge
• many countries in Eastern and Southern Africa have considerable groundwater storage but low levels of recharge
• current groundwater pumping will affect future generations
• only 3% of the total cultivated land in Sub-Saharan Africa is under irrigation and only 5% of that is irrigated with groundwater
• groundwater development could act as a catalyst for economic growth, irrigation, agricultural yield increases and crop diversity
• development is limited by a lack of investment in infrastructure, institutions, trained professionals and knowledge of the resource^[5]

• need to replace aging water and wastewater infrastructure
• funding for capital improvements
• compliance with federal water laws
• groundwater management
• watershed resource protection^[22]

• Baltimore, Maryland, E. Coli was discovered in the water supply used by more than 1,500 people
• Benton Harbor, Michigan, elevated lead levels were found in the water system starting in 2018 but the water lines are being replaced
• Birmingham, Alabama and surrounding Black Belt communities, children are exposed to E. Coli due to sewage exposure due to failing septic systems
• Buffalo, New York, a blizzard nearly shut down the water system and a water treatment plant near Lake Erie
• Central Valley, California, about a million Californians in farmworker communities are exposed to toxic groundwater contaminated by pesticides and nitrates
• Elgin, Illinois, in 2023 unsafe lead levels were found in the city's drinking water
• Honolulu, Hawaii, in November 2021 jet fuel leaked from a Navy storage facility into the local supply causing widespread illness
• Houston, Texas, more than 2 million people need to boil water before using it to cook, bathe and drink
• Jackson, Mississippi, a damaged water pump at the city's main treatment facility failed due to neglect
• Las Vegas, New Mexico, the city's Bradner Reservoir was tainted by fire-related debris and ash
• Prichard, Alabama, years of water system neglect have led to public health threats from unclean water
• Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria destroyed the island's water infrastructure, more than 1.1 million people lack safe drinking water
• South Texas, Rio Grande Valley, two judges declared a drought-related water disaster in August 2023
• St. Louis, Missouri, aging infrastructure and lead pipes producing unsafe drinking water.^{[37],[38],[41],[46],[47]}

• achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
• achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
• improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
• substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
• implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
• protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
• expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programs, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
• support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management^[3]

The 1972 Clean Water Act, 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act, 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments and 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments are supposed to guarantee that all U.S. inhabitants have access to clean and safe water. For nearly a decade Flint, Michigan residents consumed drinking water that failed to meet federal regulations.^[23]

The damage was already done:

• 66% of households reported one or more adult members experiencing unusual behavioral health issues
• 54% of households reported at least one child experiencing behavioral health issues
• 22.5% of households reported difficulties getting access to behavioral health services
• 34% of individuals self-reported anxiety
• 29% self-reported depression symptoms
• 51% of households felt physical health of at least one member had worsened due to the water crisis^[24]

In March 2024 a federal court held the City of Flint in contempt for violating a February 2023 federal court order requiring the city to reach certain milestones in its lead pipe replacement program. The city had agreed to replace all of its old lead pipes by 2020 and failed to complete the work. Residents in more than 2,000 homes have been living with damaged and dangerous pipes for more than 10 years.^[49]

PFASa group of man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals are contaminants of emerging concern (CEC)unregulated substances often found in pharmaceutical and personal care products that end up in sewers and that cannot be totally removed by usual wastewater treatment processes Researchers at USC's Keck School of Medicine found that PFAS exposure alters biological processes, including amino acida simple organic compound containing both a carboxyl (-COOH) and an amino (-NH₂) group formation and fat metabolismchemical processes in a living organism that keep it alive in children and young adults. This disruption is related to increases in developmental disorders, heart and metabolic diseases and cancer.^[15]

In 1938 a DuPont scientist discovered Teflon, one of the first PFAS. 3M then became the largest manufacturer of PFAS chemicals, commonly used in pizza boxes, soda cans, contact lenses, dental floss, mascara and furniture. Under pressure from the EPA 3M will stop producing PFAS by 2025.^[28]

But the forever chemicals have been spread across the planet. PFAS samples were collected in North America, Europe and the Arctic. They have been found in the Pacific Ocean, the Great Lakes, Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea.^[18] Atmospheric PFAS levels have been identified in rainwater all over the world, even in Antarctica and the Tibetan plateau.^[32]

PFAS were first identified in the tissues of fish, birds, marine mammals, and specifically bald eagles, polar bears, albatrosses and seals in the early 2000s. Fish-eating predatory animals were found to contain concentrations greater than could be accounted for in their diets.^[18]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) measures blood PFAS in the U.S. population every two years, starting in 1999-2000, estimating that PFAS-related chemicals are in the blood of 97% of the U.S. population.^[19]

Since 2002, U.S. production and use of PFOS and PFOA in the United States have declined. From 1999-2000 to 2017-2018, blood PFOS levels declined by more than 85% and from 1999-2000 to 2017-2018, blood PFOA levels declined by more than 70%. As PFOS and PFOA are phased out humans may be exposed to other PFAS.^[20]

In February 2023, the EPA announced that $2 billion in grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was available to communities to address PFAS issues in drinking water.^[13]

By May 2023 10 states had banned food containers containing PFAS along with hundreds of cities.^[27]

In May 2023 Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R. Wy.) introduced the Water Systems PFAS Liability Act. If passed, the act would hold polluters responsible for cleaning up PFAS discharges under the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The new law would close a loophole in the 1980 law that would prevent polluters from passing on cleanup costs to water system customers.^[26]

In July 2023 the U.S. Geological Survey published the results of a study that concluded that at least 45% of the nation's tap water includes one or more PFAS.^[33]

On April 10, 2024, the Biden administration issued the first national and legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from PFAS exposure. This standard will reduce PFAS exposure for approximately 100 million people.^[50]

In 2017, residents living near the Cape Fear watershed in North Carolina learned that the the Fayetteville Works chemical plant, owned by DuPont and then by the Dutch company Chemours, had been contaminating the Cape Fear River and local wells with PFAS for more than three decades. The river provides water to 1.5 million people, 500,000 of whom live south of the plant.^[42]

Chemicals produced by these companies were directly responsible for an increasing number of rare illnesses among area residents. When a local newspaper broke the story residents wrote to the U.N. seeking help.^[42]

In November 2023 the U.N. declared ongoing PFAS watershed contamination violated residents' right to a clean and safe environment. This was the first time the U.N. used a human rights framework to address forever chemical pollution in the U.S. It urged the EPA to hold the polluters accountable.^[42]

Community members and officials in North Carolina reprimanded the EPA for approving a permit allowing Chemours to import 4 million additional pounds of GenX PFAS waste from the Netherlands, despite a 2019 EPA order requiring the company to reduce its pollution in the Cape Fear watershed. When the local media exposed the violation the EPA stopped the import.^[42]

AVANTech, a wastewater treatment company, recently developed a PFAS capturing and solidification system that uses modified ion exchange.^[16] The process uses a specialty absorbent that attracts PFAS from water, concentrating the PFAS onto a solid that is easily disposed.^[17]

In collaboration with 3M researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, demonstrated that an electron beam can destroy PFOA and PFOS.^[45]

But not all cities can afford PFAS removal systems. In 2016 Stuart, Florida, a small coastal town of 18,000, discovered PFAS levels of more than 1,000 parts per trillion in a few of its wells. The EPA had issued a new policy stating that levels should not exceed 70 parts per trillion.^[28]

The town's water managers acted, installing a resin system that attracts PFAS contaminants which have to be incinerated to destroy the forever chemicals. The system has cost more than $20 million to keep PFAS levels below 30 parts per trillion. Expenses will continue to rise.^[28]

Stuart is part of a lawsult which was to be heard in U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Outcomes could affect more than 100 million Americans and the first of more than 4,000 that have been filed against 3M and other forever chemical manufacturers to hold them responsible for the costs of removing PFAS from America's water.^[28]

Lawyers for the plaintiffs have found evidence that in 1975 3M was aware that PFAS was poisoning water systems, but in 1979 the company removed reports from outside experts who confirmed that 3M's products were a risk to public health. The trial was delayed in June 2023 and on June 2, 2023 three major chemical companies decided to settle.^[28],[29] Chemours, DuPont and Corteva will pay $1.19 billion to for the first wave of claims against them, while 3M agreed to pay $10.3 billion.^[29],[31] The settlements do not include personal injury cases or environmental damage. Future lawsuits are expected.^[29]

The cost of removing PFAS from the country's water is estimated at between $200 billion and $400 billion. According to the American Water Works Association if Stuart and the other plaintiffs lose consumers in communities where PFAS mitigation is required, could be subjected to an annual water bill increase between $200 and $350 per year. In sparsely poplulated areas, the annual increase could be as high as $1,000 per year.^[28]

In June 2023 3M reached a $10.3 billion settlement with the cities and towns involved in the law suits.^[31]

On October 20, 2023 the EPA finalized a rule that improves PFAS reporting to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The rule eliminated an exemption that allowed facilities to avoid PFAS reporting when those chemicals were used in small concentrations, including uses in manufacturing, metal mining, chemical manufacturing and federal facilities.^[39]

In 2023 San Francisco began testing wastewater from treatment plants for fentanyla powerful opioid drug used in the treatment of severe pain and other substances. The data can help public health officials respond to signs of usage and overdoses to try to prevent sickness and death.^[44]

Synthetic fibers, from disposable packaging and microbeads, which were banned in the U.S. in 2015, have been found in 94% of sampled U. S. drinking water. An average person in the U.S. ingests up to 5 grams of plastic per week.^[35]

The term microplasticsinvisible pieces of plastic measuring less than 5 millimeters, was first used in 2004, but they were located in the ocean in 1971. They form when wind, water and sunlight erode larger plastics into particulate-sized pieces. There may be more than 24 trillion pieces of microplastics in the upper ocean.^[35],[48]

Municipal wastewater facilities that fail to filter out microplastics discharge 4 million microparticles per day into large bodies of water. The consumption of microplastics damages lung tissue lining and the respiratory system.^[35]

Research conducted along the Ganges River in South Asia found an average of 41 microplastic particles per square metre per day settled from the atmosphere, 57 particles per kilogram on average in sediment from the riverbed and one particle in every 20 liters of water. Rayon represented about 82% of the fibres found in samples. Blue was the most common color.^[40]

Methods for microplastic removal are now being developed, including the installation and use of disk filters in wastewater treatment systems constructed from pile cloth media.^[48]

Sources:

 
Solutions

In 1986 federal regulations expanded WOTUS to include

• all waters which are or have been used for interstate or foreign commerce
• all interstate waters including interstate wetlands
• intrastate lakes, playaa flat, dry desert basin where water evaporates quickly lakes, rivers, streams, intramittent streams, mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs,an area of soft muddy ground prairie potholes, wet meadows and natural ponds that could be used for interstate or foreign commerce
• tributaries of included waters^[1]

For the next three decades several state, appellate court and Supreme Court cases reinterpreted the 1986 definition. The 2015 Clean Water Rule excluded ephemeral streamsa temporary stream that flows as the result of precipitation^[1] from WOTUS.

On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 13990 on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. The order required federal agencies to review existing regulations to ensure that they addressed science, climate change and social justice.^[1]

Clean Water Act programs will need to ensure their waters are protected by federal law. Where they do not Tribes and states have authority.^[1]

In April 2023 the EPA announced $41 million in assistance under the America's Infrastructure Act to help solve wastewater challenges. The funding will help rural, underserved and Tribal communities to assess water needs, identify solutions and access funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.^[3]

The act has five priorities: financing and funding, protection of water quality, improvement of Tribal wastewater systems, assistance to communities with decentralized water systems and lagoon wastewater treatment.^[3]

The European Union (EU) established two legal frameworks for the protection of its freshwater and marine resources, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).^[4]

The WFD created a framework for protecting inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. It called for reducing pollution, promoting sustainable water use, improving aquatic environments, mitigating flood effects and creating river basin management plans.^[4]

The WFD is supported by more specific targets:

• the groundwater directive against pollution and deterioration provides for specific criteria for the assessment of good chemical status, identification of significant and sustained upward trends and the definition of starting points for trend reversals. All threshold values for pollutants (with the exception of nitrates and pesticides, for which the limits are set by specific EU legislation) are set by the Member States.
• the drinking water directive of 2020 defined quality standards for water intended for human consumption and groundwater quality monitoring and consumer notification
• the bathing water directinve enhanced public health and environmental protection through sampling and bacteria detection
• the environmental quality standards directive established limits on concentrations of dozens of substances that pose a risk to surface waters including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and PFAS
• the urban waste water treatment directive was designed to protect the environment from urban and industrial waste water discharges
• the nitrates directive requires states to protect water from nitrates and agricultural pollutants
• the floods directive manages flood risks to human health, the environment, infrastructure and property.^[4]

The MSFD, part of the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP), was established to:

• create sustainable development of EU's maritime economy while protecting the marine environment
• define European marine regions, including the Baltic Sea, the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea and subregions of geographical boundaries
• require member states to develop ecosystem-based strategies for their marine waters reviewed every six years
• define principles of sound coastal planning and management principles.^[4]

Specific regions, including South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East are dealing with increasing challenges in water distribution, resulting in community conflicts, population displacements, lack of clean water access and tensions between neighboring countries sharing water sources.^[5]

The Pacific Institute is identifying risk-reduction strategies, including technical and engineering solutions to improve water access and efficiency, political and legal tools to protect civilian water systems and new economic approaches to address water inequities, inequities, availability and affordability. The report's release has spurred international concern, leading to intensified diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of water-related conflicts, increased investment in water infrastructure, sustainable water management and international collaboration to prevent future violence.^[5]

In 2023 Amazon, with more than 125 global locations, committed to implementing water-saving strategies. Amazon engineers designed innovative data center cooling systems and adopted a water usage effectiveness metric. The company transitioned to using reclaimed water and completed replenishment projects in Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa.^[6]

Sources:

 
Resources

Denise Meeks, dmeeks@arizona.edu