Sink or Swim—Toward Water Security for All
Harnessing the productive potential of water and limiting its destructive impacts have challenged the human species since its origins. Many of the earliest civilizations, particularly those on the floodplains of the world's major rivers, succe...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
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Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/06/9677333/sink-or-swim-toward-water-security-all http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11759 |
| Summary: | Harnessing the productive potential of
water and limiting its destructive impacts have challenged
the human species since its origins. Many of the earliest
civilizations, particularly those on the floodplains of the
world's major rivers, succeeded by harnessing water,
often in nation-building efforts that spawned great
civilizations. But water is also a force for destruction,
catastrophically through drought, flood, landslides, and
epidemic, and progressively through erosion, inundation,
desertification, contamination, and disease. Water also has
been a source of dispute, particularly where it crosses
jurisdictional boundaries. Today, where water supplies are
adequate and reliable, societies are relatively rich. Water
security was easily achieved in temperate climates where
rainfall is not extremely variable. By contrast, where water
is scarce, variable, and uncontrolled, most societies have
remained poor, and basic water security has not been
achieved. There are other reasons why societies are poor or
rich, but the significance of water security is
considerable, and little recognized. Over time, human beings
have developed reservoirs of knowledge and experience about
how to control and manage water, but, with economic
development and population growth, the demands on water have
grown apace. This is true in all industrial countries, which
invested early and heavily in water infrastructure,
institutions, and management capacity. It is equally true in
developing countries, where investments in water development
and management remain an urgent priority. In some developing
countries, often the poorest, the severity of the challenge
of managing water is almost without precedent. |
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