U.S. Water News Online
WASHINGTON -- An increasing number of nations around the
world are reporting
serious water shortages, various reports confirm.
World Water and Environmental Engineering reports
that Bahrain's
groundwater reserves have been overdrawn to the point where aquifers
would
need another 1,400 years to recover, according to Habib Qassim, the
Middle
East nation's agriculture minister. In Singapore, a warning has been
issued
by the prime minister that severe water shortages will develop if
usage is
not cut back. If water use grows at its current rate of 3 percent a
year,
Singapore's existing supply reportedly will be insufficient to meet
demands
within 15 years.
The International Food Policy Research Institute reports that
there are
dry-season water shortages in every major city in south Asia. In the
African
nation of Malawi, the devastating effects of drought have nearly
dried up the
Shire River. According to the International Rivers Network, water
supply
shortages in Malawi and other central African nations have been
exacerbated
by a severe reduction in water catchment capability caused by
massive
deforestation.
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