Global Water Crisis:
Persistent regional drought, rapid coastal urbanization, and failures in management have placed unprecedented stress on the Earth’s fresh water supply. Today, 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water; by 2050, half the global population will face water shortages. The implications for global health, development and security are severe: with 55 nations failing to meet their water-related UN Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations recently declared a “Global Water Crisis”.
For too long, our knowledge of hydrological processes has been grounded in theory and lacking in objective data. Inadequate and outdated data in the water community is the basis for poor management and planning. While statistics detailing the global water crisis are plentiful, solutions are not.
What we do:
The EarthWater Institute's (“EWI”) mission is twofold:
(1) Global Water Audit: to be at the forefront of fresh water research through the Global Water Audit, an international platform designed to better quantify the Earth’s water balance, reduce uncertainties, and improve management and planning. Current institutional participants include the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution ("WHOI"), Bennett and Williams, the Center for Research on Environment and Water ("CREW"), and the Cold Regions Research and Environment Laboratory ("CRREL"); and
(2) Water Poverty Initiative: to empower poor rural women and men in developing countries to achieve higher incomes and improved water security by developing new, sustainable Megawatershed resources in partnership with governments, NGOs, development organizations, and EarthWater Global ("EWG"), an affiliate of the Institute.
The EarthWater Institute is a platform for collaboration: we invite others – academics, scientists, foundations, corporations, governments and NGO’s alike – to help us meet this great challenge.
“Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.”
- Albert Szent-Györgyi (Nobel Prize Laureate for Medicine)
“Securing water for a growing world will require the best of science, ecology, economics, ethics and international cooperation.”
– Jeffrey Sachs (Director of the United Nations Millennium Project)