Loading ...Here’s something you may not have thought about while planning your move to another country: Will it run out of water?
The World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct project recently evaluated, mapped and scored water risks in 100 river basins ranked by area and population in 181 countries, the first country-level water assessment of its kind ever.
The WRI found that 37 countries face “extremely high” levels of baseline water stress, which means that 80 percent of the water from rivers, streams and aquifers available to agricultural, domestic and industrial users is withdrawn annually, leaving businesses, farms and communities exposed to significant water shortages.
In addition to baseline water stress, several other key water risk factors were evaluated:
- Inter-annual variability: the variation in water supply between years
- Seasonal variability: the variation in water supply between months of the year
- Flood occurrence: the number of floods recorded from 1985 to 2011
- Drought severity: the average length of drought times the dryness of the droughts from 1901 to 2008
Which countries are most at risk? Mainly island and desert nations topped the list. Tied at #1 were: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Barbados, Comoros, Cyprus, Dominica, Jamaica, Malta, Northern Cyprus, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Western Sahara.
The report pointed out that Singapore, while listed as one of the most at-risk countries, is consistently held up as an exceptional water manager. The country invests heavily in technology, has brokered international agreements and relies on responsible management to meet its freshwater needs. For example, Singapore uses advanced rainwater capture systems, which contribute 20 percent of its water supply. An additional 40 percent is imported from Malaysia and “grey water” (recycled) adds another 30 percent. The remaining 10 percent is produced by desalination. No wonder they call Singapore the country that “just works.”