Conclusion
Lakes and other surface water bodies are shrinking or being lost entirely in 364 basins worldwide. A continued high level of particles and nutrients in many large lakes can lead to algal blooms and low-oxygen waters, primarily caused by land clearance and urbanization, and certain weather events.
Nevertheless, the construction of reservoirs contributes to a global net-gain in permanent water, mainly in regions like North America, Europe, and Asia.
Low levels
The poorest half of the world contributes under 3 percent of global water quality data points, including only 4,500 lake quality measurements out of almost 250,000. This reveals an urgent need to improve monitoring capacity.
Lack of data on this scale means that by 2030 over half of humanity will live in countries that have inadequate water quality data to inform management decisions related to address drought, floods, impacts from wastewater effluents and agricultural runoff.
Where good data are available, it shows that freshwater quality has been degrading since 2017. Where data are lacking, the signs are not promising.
Report authors recommend the expansion and development of routine government-funded monitoring programs, as well as incorporating citizen science into such national programs, and exploring the potential of satellite-based Earth observation and modelled data products to help fill the data gap.
Inadequate progress
Balancing competing needs for sustainable water use from society and the economy requires the implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) across sectors, at all levels and across borders by 2030.
Forty-seven (47) countries have fully reached or almost reached IWRM, 63 countries need to accelerate implementation, while 73 countries have only limited capacity for IWRM.
At the current rate of reported progress, the world will only achieve sustainable water management by 2049. This means that by 2030 at least 3.3 billion people in over 100 countries are likely to have ineffective governance frameworks to balance competing water demands.
Solutions include unlocking finance through revenue raising and cost recovery arrangements, investments in infrastructure and management, as well as coordinated action, greater institutional capacity and better monitoring networks. UNEP News
