The triennial reports focus on advancing the achievement of the sixth Sustainable Development Goal, “Clean Water and Sanitation” (SDG 6), by protecting and restoring freshwater sources. These reports, based on more data than ever before, call for increased support for member states in addressing water issues through the UN’s systems-wide strategy on water supply and sanitation, along with its associated joint implementation plan.
“Our blue planet is rapidly losing healthy freshwater bodies and resources, which creates serious prospects for food security, climate change, and biodiversity,” said Diana Kopanski, head of the freshwater and wetlands section at UNEP’s Ecosystem Division. “At this critical moment, the bar for global political commitments towards sustainable water resource management is higher than ever, including the adoption of a resolution on water resources at the last UN Environment Assembly in February, but these commitments are not supported by the necessary funding or actions.”
Widespread Degradation
According to available data, 90 countries, mostly in Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, are experiencing degradation of one or more freshwater ecosystems. In other regions, such as Oceania, the situation is improving.
The degradation of freshwater ecosystems is driven by pollution, dam construction, land restructuring, excessive water withdrawal, and climate change. Due to climate change and land use, river runoff has decreased in 402 basins worldwide, five times more than in 2000. River runoff is increasing in much smaller amounts.
The loss of mangrove forests due to human activities (such as aquaculture and agriculture) threatens coastal communities, freshwater resources, biodiversity, and climate because of their ability to filter water and sequester carbon. Southeast Asia has reported a significant reduction in mangrove areas, although the overall deforestation rate has stabilized over the last decade.
Lakes and other surface water bodies in 364 basins worldwide are shrinking or disappearing altogether. High levels of particles and nutrients in many large lakes may lead to algal blooms and reduced oxygen levels in the water, primarily caused by land clearing and urbanization, as well as some weather phenomena.
However, the construction of reservoirs contributes to a global increase in water reserves, primarily in regions like North America, Europe, and Asia.
Low Water Quality Monitoring
The poorest half of the world contributes less than three percent of global water quality data, including only 4,500 lake quality measurements out of nearly 250,000. This highlights the urgent need to improve conditions for monitoring.
The lack of such data means that by 2030, more than half of humanity will live in countries without sufficient data on water quality to take necessary administrative actions to combat droughts, floods, wastewater impacts, and agricultural runoff.
Reliable data show that since 2017, the quality of freshwater has been deteriorating. The absence of data in some regions is an ominous sign.
Report authors recommend expanding and developing regular government-funded monitoring programs, incorporating citizen science into national programs, and exploring the potential of Earth observation satellites and data-based model products to help fill data gaps.
Insufficient Progress
Ensuring a balance between competing societal and economic needs in sustainable water use requires the implementation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) across all sectors and levels in all countries by 2030.
47 countries have fully or almost fully implemented IWRM, 63 countries need to accelerate implementation, while 73 countries have only limited potential for IWRM. At the current reported progress rates, the world will achieve sustainable water resource management only by 2049. This means that by 2030, at least 3.3 billion people in more than 100 countries are likely to experience ineffective management systems that will not balance competing water demands.
Solutions include freeing up financial resources through fundraising and cost recovery, investing in infrastructure and management, as well as coordinated actions, strengthening institutional capacity, and monitoring networks.