Source: Down To Earth (DTE)
What is the news?
The UNU-INWEH has released a flagship report titled “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era”, warning that large parts of the world have entered a permanent state of water insolvency, where water use exceeds renewable and safe limits.
What is “Water Bankruptcy”?
- A persistent failure state where:
- Long-term water withdrawals exceed renewable inflows and safe depletion thresholds.
- Results in irreversible damage to natural water capital (aquifers, rivers, wetlands).
- The report argues that terms like “water stress” or “water crisis” are inadequate, as the earlier “normal” hydrological baseline has already collapsed in many regions.
Key Data & Findings
- Global scale:
- ~75% of world population lives in water-insecure or critically water-insecure countries (2026).
- Agriculture:
- ~70% of global freshwater used for agriculture.
- 170+ million hectares of irrigated cropland under high or very high water stress.
- Groundwater:
- ~70% of major global aquifers show long-term decline.
- Land subsidence of up to 25 cm/year in some regions.
- Wetlands:
- Loss of ~410 million hectares in 50 years (≈ size of the EU).
- Economic cost:
- Anthropogenic droughts cost $307 billion annually, more than the GDP of ~75% of UN member states.
Major Causes Identified
- Slow-onset depletion: Chronic over-allocation and over-pumping.
Example: Severe groundwater depletion in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. - Infrastructure-driven overshoot: Dams and diversions enabling unsustainable urban growth.
Example: Inter-basin transfers supplying Chennai failing during monsoon shocks. - Ecological liquidation: Loss of wetlands and forests reduces recharge and flood buffering.
Example: Bengaluru wetland degradation. - Climate-amplified overshoot: Climate change accelerates glacier melt and rainfall variability.
Example: Himalayan glacier retreat threatening Indus–Ganga flows. - Institutional inertia: Policies assume return of old hydrological normal.
Example: Resistance to crop diversification in water-scarce regions.
