A recent United Nations report sounded the alarm on a looming global water disaster. It proclaims that we have all entered an era of “global water bankruptcy.” This profoundly dangerous state of affairs affects billions of lives around the globe. In fact, 75% of the global population currently resides in countries experiencing water instability or acute water instability. The report sheds light on the disturbing reality that around 2 billion people live on land where groundwater aquifers are collapsing, leading to significant environmental and social challenges.
The consequences of this crisis are far-reaching. The number of water-related conflicts worldwide has surged from just 20 in 2010 to over 400 in 2024, reflecting escalating tensions over this vital resource. Cities across the globe, including Tehran, Cape Town, São Paulo, and Chennai, have already faced dire “day zero” scenarios where water supplies were severely depleted.
Rafsanjan, Iran, has recorded some of the highest rates of land subsidence in the world. Groundwater over-exploitation is making the land sink by as much as 30 centimeters a year. Tulare in the United States is sinking by 28 cm a year. In contrast, Mexico City is sinking at a rate of 21 cm per year. Yet, front-line global cities such as Jakarta, Manila, Lagos and Kabul are under the gun. They fight on against the rising tide of an impending global water apocalypse.
As a result, the report exposes that the Indus, Yellow, and Tigris-Euphrates river basins are drying up before they even reach the sea. This disturbing trend is compounding the crisis. The drought-scorched, intensively irrigated Konya plain in Turkey is having a very different experience. Today more than 700 sinkholes are opening each month from water bankruptcy. Over 50% of food grown globally comes from places where water storage is already decreasing or increasingly erratic.
Half of the world’s large lakes have lost 90% of their area since the early 1990s. Rivers like the Colorado in the United States and Australia’s Murray-Darling system are failing to reach their natural outlets due to severe depletion. Agriculture is still by far the largest user of freshwater—representing some 70% of all withdrawals.
Just as, or even more, impactful is increased variability in water availability, experts stress.
“Sometimes there’s more water available overall, but it increasingly arrives in bursts, at the wrong place and at the wrong time. This makes management genuinely harder,” – Prof Albert Van Dijk.
The implications extend beyond immediate water shortages. The challenge These pressures have contributed to a troubling and clear global pattern, as our new report describes.
“These pressures have produced a global pattern that is now unmistakable,” – UN report.
In a book well worth your time, he points out that said growth is a huge factor in driving many of the harbingers of this water bankruptcy.
“This report tells an uncomfortable truth: many critical water systems are already bankrupt,” – Dr Jonathan Paul.
As cities continue to take account of their pallid, receding water supplies, these solutions need to be applied with candor, bravery, and political fortitude.
“The elephant in the room, which is mentioned explicitly only once, is the role of massive and unequal population growth in driving so many of the manifestations of water bankruptcy,” – Dr Jonathan Paul.
Madani argues that water can be a powerful source for building collaboration between countries.
“Water bankruptcy management requires honesty, courage and political will,” – Madani.
The report urges countries to adopt new ways of thinking about and managing water resources. While it acknowledges that losses cannot be reversed, such as restoring vanished glaciers or re-inflating compacted aquifers, it emphasizes the need for proactive measures to prevent further losses.
“Water is a strategic, untapped opportunity to the world to create unity within and between nations. It is one of the very rare topics that left and right and north and south all agree on its importance,” – Madani.
The report compels nations to reconsider their approach to water resources. While it acknowledges that losses cannot be reversed—such as restoring vanished glaciers or re-inflating compacted aquifers—it emphasizes the need for proactive measures to prevent further losses.
“We cannot rebuild vanished glaciers or reinflate acutely compacted aquifers. But we can prevent further losses, and redesign institutions to live within new hydrological limits,” – Madani.