Without clean water, there can be no development. Since the Central Asian states are unable to provide clean water to rural inhabitants of the densely populated Fergana Valley, many of the ten million people living in this poor region suffer from waterborne diseases. An SDC-funded project seeks to show villagers how to solve their problems on their own.

'Jordan is a chronically water-scarce country, and less than five per cent of the land is arable. For farmers, little or no rainfall means severely reduced cultivation and production – and increased hunger and poverty. Those who find other ways to supplement their incomes generally earn very little. To address these challenges, an IFAD-supported project provided farmers with technical and financial assistance to promote soil and water conservation and boost agricultural production. It also hel more...

The three water crises – dwindling freshwater supplies, inequitable access to water and the corporate control of water – pose the greatest threat of our time to the planet and to our survival. Together with impending climate change from fossil fuel emissions, the water crises impose some life-or-death decisions on us all.

Unless we collectively change our behavior, we are heading toward a world of deepening conflict and potential wars over the dwindling supplies of freshwater – between more...

“Our demand for water has turned us into vampires, draining the world of its lifeblood. What can we do to prevent mass global drought and starvation?” asked Fred Pearce, the New Scientist’s environmental expert and author of ‘When the Rivers Run Dry”, published in February 2006.

There is some mordant irony that in the last 18 months parts of the world have witnessed colossal damage and lost of life due to the excess of water, at a time when the diminishing stock of freshwater conti more...

The quest for water can drive a woman mad.

Every day, Mrs. Prasher, a homemaker in a middle-class neighborhood of this capital, rises at 6:30 a.m. and begins fretting about water. It is a rare morning when water trickles through the pipes. More often, not a drop will come. So Mrs. Prasher will have to call a private water tanker, wait for it to show up, call again, wait some more and worry about whether enough buckets are filled in the bathroom in case no water arrives. “Your whole day goes more...

'This paper considers practical mechanisms for moving towards an operationalisation of benefit sharing with regard to water resources. The focus is on steps for putting the concept into practice and the point of departure is lessons learned from existing cooperative efforts.'

The United Nations and the United States government estimate that by 2015 at least 40 per cent of the world’s population (3 billion people) will live in countries where it is difficult or impossible to get enough water to satisfy basic needs.

This Opinion argues that water sector professionals often have a vision of the perfect water resources system, but implementation is a problem. It sets out key water and sanitation priorities.

This paper examines the factors that have led to the failure of major policy reforms affecting water resources management in Sri Lanka.

By Alan Roe. This paper synthesises the preliminary findings, conclusions and recommendations emerging from the first year of AREU’s thematic study on water, opium and livestock in Afghanistan. It examines irrigation methods and water management systems, and draws linkages between water availability, livestock production and opium cultivation.