Water research

Random stuff about water...

The World Water Council publications list.

Book: Out of Water
Includes a chart of water usage from 2005 which shows Australians were the world's second heaviest users of water. Assuming there's been no dramatic improvement since then (seems unlikely), it suggests that we have a lot of scope to adapt to probable water shortages in WA metropolitan areas by 2030. 

Selected quotes:
To feed the World's population in 2050 will require about twice as much water as was used for agriculture in 2000. p. xvii

"...a metric ton of rice requires upto 3780 ML (mega litres) of water for its growth. A kilo of grain fed beef requires about 10,000 litres (10,000 ML per ton)." In other words beef requires about 3 times as much water as rice. p 7

"On average, every calorie consumed in our food requires a litre of water for its production, and this does not count water used by food processing industries...Consequently, each person on the planet, if consuming a diet of 2500 calories per day, accounts for at least 2500 litres of water requirement....this totals 912,500 litres" per year. p7-8

"...global population growth...is predicted to climb from about 6.7 billion in 2008 to about 9 billion in 2050...the future water requirement...is approx. 14,000 km2..." To meet the needs of the extra 2 billion people will require "25-50 enourmous dams of the capacity of the High Aswan Dam on the River Nile...These vast amounts of water are not available...in the areas where we need them..." p 8-9

"half the world's population will be affected by water shortages in just 20 years' time (2030), with millions dying and increasing conflicts over dwindling resources"...and... "During the 20th century the world population increased fourfold, but the amount of freshwater that it used increased nine times over. "...and ..."water scarcity could cut world harvests by 30 per cent – equivalent to all the grain grown in the US and India (by 2030)". ..and... "(The UN expects)...water conflicts to break out in the Middle East, Haiti, Sri Lanka, Colombia and other countries." Independent

Other sources? The World Water Development Report, world water forum 2013, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization

Good summary of the future of water by the UN Global Compact