SYLLABUS

GS-3: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

Context: United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health released a report titled as “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era”, highlighting irreversible water “bankruptcy” due to decades of overuse, pollution, and declining freshwater sources.

Key highlights of the Report

• This report declares that the world has already entered the era of Global Water Bankruptcy. The condition is not a distant threat but a present reality. 

• Nearly 75% of the global population lives in water-insecure or critically water-insecure countries.

• Around 4 billion people face severe water scarcity for at least one month annually.

• Water bankruptcy is a permanent "post-crisis" state where a region's long-term water use persistently exceeds its renewable supply, leading to irreversible damage to natural water systems. 

• Decades of unsustainable extraction have depleted aquifers, glaciers, wetlands, soils, and river systems.

• Water systems are described as being in a “post-crisis state of failure.”

• Over 170 million hectares of irrigated cropland face high to very high water stress.

• Annual global economic losses exceed $300 billion due to land degradation, groundwater depletion, and climate change.

• Three billion people and over half of global food production are located in regions with declining water storage.

• Salinisation has degraded more than 100 million hectares of cropland.

• Researchers call for a new global water agenda, focusing on damage minimisation rather than restoring past norms.

• Major hotspots of Water Bankruptcy:

• Middle East and North Africa region: These regions face the convergence of low agricultural productivity, energy-intensive desalination, sand and dust storms within complex political economies.
• South Asia: Groundwater-dependent agriculture and urbanization have produced chronic declines in water tables and local subsidence.
• American Southwest Region: The Colorado River and its reservoirs have become symbols of over-promised water.

Key Causes of Water Bankruptcy

• Unsustainable Water Extraction: Excessive withdrawal of surface water and groundwater beyond natural recharge rates, leading to depletion of rivers, aquifers, wetlands, and long-term water reserves. 
• Agricultural Overdependence on Water: Nearly 70% of global freshwater withdrawals are used for irrigation, often inefficiently, placing severe stress on water systems amid rising food demand.
• Climate Change Impacts: Melting glaciers, altered rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events intensify droughts and floods, disrupting natural water storage and availability.
• Population Growth and Urbanisation: Rapid uneven population growth, expanding cities, and economic growth have sharply raised water demand for domestic, industrial, and energy uses.
• Water Pollution and Degradation: Contamination from industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and salinisation reduces usable freshwater, effectively shrinking available supplies.
• Weak Governance and Mismanagement: Fragmented policies, poor regulation, and short-term crisis management have failed to address long-term water sustainability and ecosystem protection.

Significance of the Report

• Conceptual Shift in Water Discourse: Formally introduces “global water bankruptcy”, moving beyond reversible notions of water stress or crisis to highlight irreversible depletion of natural water capital.
• Policy and Governance Reset: Calls for a fundamental reset of the global water agenda, prioritising science-based adaptation, long-term sustainability, and damage minimisation over short-term crisis management.
• Global Risk and Interconnectedness: Establishes water scarcity as a systemic global risk, linked through trade, migration, climate feedbacks, food security, and geopolitics, affecting all regions, not just hotspots.
• Catalyst for Global Cooperation: Positions water as a unifying strategic issue capable of advancing climate action, biodiversity conservation, and international cooperation ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference.

Source:
DD News
Reuters
News
Unu