Global Water Bankruptcy: Causes, Impacts, and Sustainable Solutions

Context

The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) released the Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era.

Key Highlights

• • The global human–water system as a whole has already entered the era of Global Water Bankruptcy
  • About 2.2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation, and about 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month per year. 
  • Nearly 75% of the world’s population lives in countries classified as water-insecure or critically water-insecure with progress toward SDG 6 is far off track for 2030.

• Factors Leading to Water Bankruptcy

• Slow-Onset Depletion: Persistent overuse of surface and groundwater gradually erodes storage and quality, with warning signs often ignored until irreversible thresholds are crossed.
• Infrastructure-Driven Overshoot: Large dams and inter-basin transfers enable expansion of water use beyond sustainable limits.
• Ecological Liquidation: Degradation of wetlands, floodplains, forests, and soils boosts short-term productivity while undermining long-term water storage and buffering capacity.
• Climate-Amplified Overshoot: Climate change intensifies existing pressures by reducing reliable water supply and increasing variability in already overexploited systems.

Water Bankruptcy vs Water Stress vs Water Crisis

• Water Stress: High demand relative to supply, with impacts that are largely reversible through improved management.
• Water Crisis: Shock-driven disruptions that temporarily overwhelm water systems but can be restored through emergency and recovery measures.
• Water Bankruptcy: A chronic condition marked by structural depletion and long-term ecological damage.

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