What is Water Scarcity: Meaning, Causes, Effects, Types and Possible Solutions

Water scarcity is one of the rising global issues. From the biggest to the smallest organism, every living being on earth needs water to survive. Although the existence of water on earth is indispensable for life, there are billions of people worldwide struggling to get clean, safe and sufficient water. This growing crisis is termed as water scarcity. In this article, we will understand the reasons behind water scarcity and learn some solutions to prevent it.

Table of Contents 

• What is Water Scarcity
• Main Causes of Water Scarcity
• Types of Water Scarcity
• Effects of Water Scarcity
• Possible Solutions for Water Scarcity
• Frequently Asked Questions about Water Scarcity

What is Water Scarcity

Water scarcity refers to the lack of sufficient available freshwater resources to meet the water demands of a region or population. Water scarcity occurs when the demand for clean, safe freshwater exceeds the available supply. Some of the main factors contributing to this shortage of water include water contamination, over population, rapid urbanisation and more. 

Main Causes of Water Scarcity

Water scarcity does not happen due to a single factor. There are multiple reasons that result in the shortage of water. This includes both human activities and natural processes such as droughts that reduce the availability of clean freshwater.

Water Pollution: Agricultural runoff, industrial discharge, untreated sewage and plastic waste ends up in freshwater sources such as rivers, lakes, ponds, etc. These pollutants not only pollute surface water but they also contaminate our groundwater sources that leads to the reduction of water that is safe to consume.

Over Population: Every person on earth needs water to drink, clean, cook and wash. As the global population grows to over 8 billion today, the stress on our freshwater resources is also increasing. More population means more food production and agriculture water use.

Agriculture: Agriculture is by far the largest consumer that accounts to around 70% of all freshwater withdrawals. As the global population grows and food demand increases and agricultural water use continues to rise.

Rapid Urbanisation: The ever increasing water demand due to expansion of cities is exhausting underground aquifers. Water is required for drinking, sanitation, construction and municipal services, due to this water infrastructure is already stretched.

Types of Water Scarcity

Water Scarcity can be categorized into physical scarcity and economic scarcity. Globally, billions suffer from this crisis, which significantly threatens public health and food security. Here are the two main types of water scarcity:

Economic Scarcity: It refers to the lack of infrastructure to access available water. It occurs when there are water resources present in an area but due to lack of infrastructure, poor governance or inequality people are not able to access them.

Physical Scarcity: Absolute lack of water is known as physical scarcity. It occurs when the natural water resources such as rainfall, rivers, lakes, and groundwater are simply not enough to meet the needs of the population.

Effects of Water Scarcity

Water scarcity has a huge impact on both living things and the environment.

• Loss of access to safe drinking water leads to dehydration, which impacts the physical and cognitive health of humans and leads to severe health conditions and sometimes death.
• Water scarcity is the top reason for failure of crop production and increasing distress of farmers. Farmer suicides in drought-prone areas is a major concerns in developing countries.
• In lack of adequate water, maintaining hygiene and sanitation becomes impossible. This raises the risk of disease transmission and health crisis.
• The depleted and polluted water poses a threat to biodiversity. As the natural water resources shrink, the aquatic life and crucial animal habitats get destroyed.
• Scarcity of water also raises social conflicts between different communities and states over water sharing and limited supply. 

Possible Solutions for Water Scarcity

1. Rainwater harvesting is one of the oldest and most effective solutions for water conservation. Capturing and storing rainwater helps to reduce the scarcity of water.
2. Building desalination plants to convert seawater into fresh drinking water is also a solution to prevent water scarcity. 
3. Enhancing irrigation practices also helps in improving crop production along with reducing water consumption. 
4. Planting more trees and protecting forests can restore the water cycle and availability of natural water through rainfall.
5. Saving, treating and reusing wastewater can reduce the demand for freshwater.