Overview
- The United Nations University report says natural water stores are being depleted faster than they can be replenished, citing losses in more than half of large lakes, long‑term decline in 70% of major aquifers, the erasure of about 410 million hectares of wetlands, and a 30% drop in global glacier mass since 1970.
- Researchers estimate nearly three‑quarters of people live in water‑insecure countries, with 4 billion facing severe scarcity at least one month a year and annual economic damages from degradation and depletion topping $300 billion.
- Agriculture, which uses about 70% of freshwater, is a central driver, with roughly half of global food production and 3 billion people concentrated in regions with unstable or declining water storage.
- The report urges governments to pivot from short‑term crisis responses to long‑term management by transforming farming practices, strengthening monitoring with meters, AI and remote sensing, reducing pollution, and protecting wetlands and groundwater, with proposals set to shape upcoming UN water talks in Dakar.
- Authors note not every basin is bankrupt but warn of hotspots in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and the U.S. Southwest, as some scientists question the blanket framing and UN officials caution that water bankruptcy can fuel fragility, displacement and conflict.