The world is running short of fresh water. With agriculture accounting for some 70% of all water

used, the water shortage is closely linked to food production and economic development. The

provision of clean water is a pre-condition to life, health and economic development and the lack

of water in many parts of the world is the root cause of much suffering and poverty. Present

methods of supplying water in arid regions include: over-abstraction from ground reserves,

diverting water from other regions and energy-intensive desalination. None of these methods are

sustainable in the long term and inequitable distribution leads to conflict. To make matters

worse, global warming is tending to make dry areas drier and wet areas wetter. Since the 1980’s,

rainfall has increased in several large regions of the world, including eastern North and South

America and northern Europe, while drying has been observed in the Sahel, the Mediterranean,

southern Africa, Australia and parts of Asia.

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