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In Race to Tap the Euphrates, the Upper Hand Is Upstream

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By 2015, according to estimates from the United Nations and the United States government, at least 40 percent of the world’s population, or about three billion people, will live in countries where it is difficult or impossible to get enough water to satisfy basic needs.

"The signs of unsustainability are widespread and spreading," said Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Amherst, Mass. "If we’re to have any hope of satisfying the food and water needs of the world’s people in the years ahead, we will need a fundamental shift in how we use and manage water."



An inescapable fact about the world’s water supply is that it is finite. Less than 1 percent of it is fresh water that can be used for drinking or agriculture, and demand for that water is rising.



Over the last 70 years, the world’s population has tripled while water demand has increased sixfold, causing increasing strain especially in heavily populated areas where water is distant, is being depleted or is simply too polluted to use.”

NY Times

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