A Different Look At Water: Water for Cities and the Water-Energy Nexus

Cities in the Developed and Developing World are Water-challenged

It should be no surprise that the demand for water outstrips its ready supply everywhere around the world. As global population soars, food, energy and freshwater are becoming increasingly scarce. Water, whether for potable or industrial use, is limited, and some supplies are not useable. Under an average economic growth scenario and without efficiency gains, global water requirements will grow from 4,500 billion cubic meters today to nearly 7,000 billion cubic meters—more than half of all the water in Lake Superior and a 50% increase in only twenty years.

By 2030, some analysts predict that available water supplies will satisfy only 60% of demand.2 According to the World Economic Forum, nearly 60% of the world’s population will be living in cities by that time, causing a shortage of clean water for people and business in the urban environment worldwide.3 In that time, a third of humanity will have only half the water required to meet basic needs,4 which is likely to impact food production through its effect on agriculture which accounts for more than 70% of water usage.5 Clearly, this scenario poses serious challenges to local communities wherever they may be.

In the developing world, the challenge to municipalities is making the limited amount of fresh water clean enough to drink for millions. In no place is this playing out more intensely than China, which by 2025 will build 221 cities with a million or more people and fifteen mega cities with populations of over 10 million. Today China has approximately 300 million people with no access to water. Even though China has 6% of the world’s total water resources, its large population means that the country only has 25% of the world’s average water resources per capita. The UN lists China as one of 13 countries that is experiencing serious water scarcity. Of the 661 cities in China, 33% are scarce of water, while 17% of China is regarded as badly scarce of water.6 The World Health Organization states that 1/6 of the world’s population does not have access to safe water for drinking. This translates into 1.1 billion people globally who do not have access to clean drinkable water.

While the challenges in the developing world seem to overshadow water issues in places like the United States and Europe they are just as real. In established cities where infrastructure already exists, municipal planners are faced with aging pipes and pumps, falling water tables and new regulations that place an additional cost burden on already stretched resources for treating current water supplies.