Water Stress Largest Component Flux of Metabolism Photograph)1.2: Aral Sea, present state. Source: Documentary “Aral, el mar perdido” / Aral, the lost sea. < http://www. palmyrasculpturecentre.com/?attachment_id=3053>
NW-DPAC) vision, 2013 port 3, 2009 NW-DPAC)
Excessive Demand In 2013, the world population reached 7.2 billion, with one fifth of people living in areas of water scarcity.27 The UN estimates growth of an additional 3 billion people by 2050, with a majority living in developing countries that already suffer water stress.28 Demographic, economic and social activities and process can all exert excessive pressures on already limited water resources directly and indirectly. The ever demanding requirements for water to meet these increasing needs worldwide threaten the continued sustainability and growth of fragile ecosystems, both natural and urban. Demographic Drivers Pressures on freshwater resources brought on by shifting population dynamics (growth, gender and age distribution, migration) inevitably alter water demands and pollution levels. Transformations of the natural landscape associated with population dynamics can create additional pressures on local water networks and resources, and often lead to the necessity of more water-related services and infrastructures. Economic Drivers International economic growth and trade can both aggravate water stress in some areas and relieve it in others in the form of embedded water used in the production of consumer goods and agriculture.29 History has often demonstrated a link between how water has contributed to economic development and how, in turn, development has demanded an increased use of water resources. This urban growth often generates additional pressure on the local environment and hydrological networks, leading to financial competitiveness among consumers to be able to obtain it.
18!Collective Ecology
Social Drivers With increased affluence in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, accelerating rates of water consumption will inevitably occur as new urban centres continue to develop and expand, influencing changes in lifestyles and consumption patterns. With 95% of urban population growth taking place in the developing world30, this rapid global rise in living standards threatens the sustainability of local water resources and environments that may be incapable handling dramatic influxes of demand.
“
Our requirements for water to meet our fundamental needs and our collective pursuit of higher living standards, coupled with the need for water to sustain our planet’s fragile ecosystems, make water unique among our planet’s natural resources.”31 UN World Water