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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 9, No. 2

Publication Date: April 25, 2021

DOI:10.14738/aivp.92.15326

Eshehri, A., & Alsoaery, A. (2021). Beyond Scarcity: Understanding Physical and Economic Shortages in the Global Water Crisis.

European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 9(2). 351-361.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Beyond Scarcity: Understanding Physical and Economic

Shortages in the Global Water Crisis

Abdulrhman Eshehri

Kingston

Abdulrhman Alsoaery

Kingston

ABSTRACT

Tropical forests, providing value through water regulation, purification, erosion

prevention, and waste treatment, account for 44% of the total forest value,

overshadowing other benefits like carbon storage and tourism. Freshwater systems

contribute over $75 billion in goods and services annually but face alarming

degradation, with a loss of 64% of total wetland areas in the last three decades,

costing up to $20 trillion in opportunity costs yearly. The extinction risk for

amphibians and the particular vulnerability of developing nations emphasizes the

global crisis of water scarcity. This article explores the multifaceted issues

contributing to water scarcity and wastage worldwide, with an emphasis on the

socio-political dynamics in third-world countries. It proposes an understanding

and strategic intervention to transform water from a point of contention to a

solution, aiming for global stability and access to clean, safe water.

Keywords: Water Scarcity, Ecosystem

INTRODUCTION

Ironically, while up to 71 percent of earth is covered with water, only about 2.5 percent of it can

be safely consumed. Considering the rapid population growth over the past decade, it is

undeniable that the world today faces a water crisis. A significant portion of earth’s population

are completely detached from this vital resource. Unfortunately, those with access to the

resource have adopted a routine of wasting this vital resource. Needless to say, an immediate

intervention to ease the impact on society is imperative. As opposed to popular belief, water

shortage is not entirely physical shortage.

Yet there still exist economic shortages of the valuable resource. Physical shortage of water

entails the natural inaccessibility to clean water for drinking. Some regions such as Saudi

Arabia, Australia, southwest of the US, and Northern China completely lack the resource. In

other areas such as Eastern and Central Africa there is access to the resource though the current

supply systems are futile. This effect manifests as an economic shortage of the vital resource.

Despite the implication persisting for decades, researchers still lack a consensus on the

solutions that may ease ineffective techniques to manage surface water.

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Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom 352

European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 9, Issue 2, April-2021

LITERATURE REVIEW

While precipitation is important, it certainly bears its negative consequences on the endeavor

to preserve water. It is the land use planning framework that is entrusted to regulate these

negative implications. Land use controls programs were enacted as early as 1947 in areas such

as Wales and England. In spite of this the effective management of precipitation still persists.

This system has been criticized for ineffective and slow response techniques especially

following the rapid shift in land use (Inglezakis & Moustakas, 2015). As such, critiques of the

system perceive of of being incapable of keeping up to date with the emerging challenges thus

lacking a reliable protection system. However true the critique is, it does not necessarily stem

from conventional drainage ideology. Rather, from unsustainable surface water management.

The drainage routine since the Victorian era all through the emergence of urbanization have

undoubtedly remained the same (Yukalang, Clarke & Ross, 2017). During the same period

challenges presented by effective drainage of surface water have severely evolved creating

numerous challenges that cannot necessarily be regulated by the system.

An important consideration by the current system is that standing water is regarded as a

hazard. As such, strenuous efforts are being taken to move storm water economically, quickly,

and safely into sewers. Despite these extensive measures and the indispensable financial

resources, flooding still persists as a critical problem (Modak, Wilson, & Velis, 2015). Though

there exists a series of alternative techniques to curb the implication, they still remain in minor

use either because of economic reasons or due to their engineering hindrances. Brooks and

Conkle (2019), insist that the spread of urbanization is associated with a deterioration of the

natural hydrological cycle. Factors that contribute to this change include reduced transpiration

and surface infiltration. An alternative option has thus been to divert surface water into

drainage systems (Hettiarachchi, Meegoda, & Ryu, 2018). This implication therefore the

extensive endeavors by water companies to limit water wastage futile.

Ineffective surface water management has also been linked with severe pollution rates in the

ecology. The forms of pollution could be diffuse or point-source pollution. Point-source

pollution is the most pervasive as it emanates from industrial and sewage effluents. Diffuse

pollution on the other hand is less significant in terms of its sources, mainly being the use of

land (Vitorino et al., 2017). Fortunately, the current regulations on transnational and national

environmental protection legislations offer reliable solutions. This effect may be ascertained by

a significant improvement in water quality by up to 41 percent between 1990 and 2000 in

Wales and England. Unfortunately, the legislations have done little to mitigate the implications

from diffuse pollution. Thus, the pollution has exacerbated water quality in the respective areas

by 20 to 50 percent (Singh, Thind &, John 2018). Thus, it is undeniable that diffuse pollution

forms the most prominent challenge to eradicating pollution of water sources. Furthermore,

more than half of the oil drainage outside Wales and the UK are attributed to emanate from

diffuse pollution on surface drainage.

While traditional sources of pollution are easy to identify and devise solutions, the same may

not apply for diffuse pollution. Often, there lacks a consensus on the key facets that propagate

the phenomenon and the solutions that may yield noteworthy results (Prechthai, Parkpian,

&Visvanathan, 2018). A key component for this trend is that diffuse pollution often develops