World’s 18 Most Water-Stressed Rivers

The world's 100 most-populated river basins are indispensable resources for billions of people, companies, farms, andecosystems. But many of these river basins are also increasingly at risk. As water demand from irrigated agriculture, industrialization, and domestic users explodes, major rivers on several continents are becomingso depletedthat they sometimesfail to reachtheir ocean destinations. Add climate change, nutrient and chemical pollution, and physical alterations like dams and other infrastructure development to the mix and it's clear that many communities rely on water resources that face an increasingly risky future.

WRI's Aqueduct project recentlyevaluated, mapped, and scoredstresses on water supplies in the 100 river basins with the highest populations, 100 largest river basins, and 180 nations.We foundthat 18 river basins— flowing through countries with a collective $US 27 trillion in GDP —face "extremely high" levels of baseline water stress.This means that more than 80 percent of the water naturally available to agricultural, domestic, and industrial users is withdrawn annually—leaving businesses, farms, and communities vulnerable to scarcity.

Periodic, and often serious, droughts only make the situation worse. Stressed river basins can severely threaten regional water security and economic growth, and may even contribute to political instability—especially if a basin does not have adequate water-management plans in place.

Details canbe seen here

Media

Taxonomy

• Ecosystem Management
• River Basin management