As global population, both rural and urban, continues to grow, water becomes an even more precious resource.

• Nearly 450 million people in 29 countries currently face severe water shortages.
• 20 percent more water than is now available will be needed to feed the additional three billion people who will be alive by 2025.
• As much as two-thirds of the world population could be water-stressed by 2025.
• Aquifers, which supply one-third of the world's population, are being pumped out faster than nature can replenish them.
• Half of the world's rivers and lakes are seriously polluted. Major rivers, such as the Yangtze, Ganges, and Colorado, do not flow to the sea for much of the year because of upstream withdrawals.