Global demand for water grows every year and it is estimated that by 2050 it will grow by up to 55%, mostly due to growing production, the WWF said.
At the same time, almost two-thirds of the global population face water restrictions at least for a month in a year.
Challenges and risks to the availability of water will grow bigger every year if we do not change the way we treat water and understand that it is a limited resource, the WWF Adria said.
Croatia is rich in drinking water, which is why the availability of drinking water is often taken for granted, the organisation said.
For decades water resources have been poorly managed – from pollution with wastewater and waste, construction of small hydropower plants and unsustainable dams to uncontrolled gravel and sand excavation, cutting of forests near rivers and sealing of soil and natural water courses, it said, stressing that there was still time for stopping the crisis and calling on everyone to be a part of the solution.
The Union for the Mediterranean, an organisation bringing together 42 countries of the EU and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, including Croatia, warned today that many Mediterranean countries were faced with water shortage, a problem additionally exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, in which additional quantities of water are used for hand washing.
The Barcelona-based organisation notes that hand washing due to coronavirus has increased daily water consumption from 9 to 12 litres per household.
The average demand for water in Mediterranean countries has increased by 5% over the past 12 months due to anti-epidemic measures, it noted.
The chair of the Croatian parliament’s committee on agriculture, Marijana Petir, too, today issued a message for World Water Day, calling for responsible management of water resources.
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