Water Depletion in the News

          Last Thursday, March 22nd, was the UN's annual World Water Day which celebrates the importance water and advocates for the sustainable management of freshwater. The first World Water day was in 1993 and since then they have had a new theme every year. This year's theme addresses the issue of the amount of water we consume every day and how it is affecting the world's water supply. Each year the world's population rises and as it does so, we continue to eat foods that demand higher and higher amounts of water to produce. The amount of water we "drink" each year is rising because of the foods we choose to eat. More and more often are people choosing to eat foods that need more water to produce them than foods we have eaten in the past. Also, pertaining to the decline in the world's water supply, was the World Water Day's theme in 2007, which focused on water scarcity and the need to implement sustainable resource management for our scare water sources.
          With the occurrence of the annual World Water Day, there have been many recent news articles addressing the many issues and solutions associated with water depletion. The issue of high water consumption was also addressed in an article in the online LA Times. It seems that not only has the depletion of water due to irrigation appeared in the news, but now we are seeing news stories on who is drinking how much water and where. In a recent article in the internet newspaper Huff Post - Green, the discussion of how much water we are all consuming and how it is affecting to planet is continued.
          While many news articles have lately been focusing on the problem of the high amount of water we use and the statistics that support it, an article posted on World Water Day from the Environmental News Service discusses the topic of a U.S. Water Partnership. This article includes statistics stating that our demand for water will be too high or that our water issues will contribute to instability in the next 10-30 years if we do not implement effective ways of managing our water. Also, the water partnership that the article focuses on was announced by U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, as a way to start cooperation among many partners in finding sustainable solutions to water depletion.
          The reality of water depletion has begun to cause many more news stories and ideas for possible solutions to arise around the world. In the middle east, where there is much concern for water depletion, a Pakistani Newspaper released an article that discusses much of that same topics seen in the previously listed articles. Another middle eastern country has been releasing many news stories as of late. The Times of India has an online website where they are constantly releasing the most current information on the issue of water depletion in their country. This website is very helpful in keeping up to date with what is being done about this issue in other locations.
          As the concern for water scarcity becomes more and more apparent, news stories will continue popping up and keeping the world updated on what is happening and what can be done about it.