New report: Water demand to increase up to 50% in 20 years

A new report on Global water resources released by the McKinsey consulting firm asserts that policymakers need to take a more accurate measure of our remaining water stores before writing laws. Entitled "Charting our Water Future," the report states that in only 20 years, water demand will have increased by over 50% in some places. The report contends that improvements in infrastructure and sourcing will only cover a fraction of this new demand, and that only by moving our economies to be "water lean" will we avoid major conflict and economic upset.

The New York Times interviewed Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the chairman of Nestle, who has hopes that the report will spark real change in policy making. "It’s not a human right to wash your car, fill up your swimming pool and water your golf course," said Brabeck-Letmathe concerning water use rights. The chairman also pointed to biofuels as a prime example of water wasted by developed countries, citing that it takes 9,100 liters of water to make a single liter of biofuel.

Agriculture is the largest consumer of water, accounting for over 70% of all water used. In a shocking figure released by the report, China alone was found to account for 40% of all industrial water use (which accounts for about 16% of the total). Domestic use is expected to decrease in relation of agricultural and industrial use over the next 20 years due to increases in efficiency, though the report claims that major breakthroughs need to be made in the other two sectors to avoid collapse.

This World Bank-backed research was sponsored by Coca-Cola, Barilla, New Holland Agriculture, Nestle, SABMiller, Standard Chartered Bank, and Syngenta. Read "Charting Our Water Future" here.