Scarcity and misuse of freshwater pose a serious and growing threat to sustainable development and protection of the environment. Human health and welfare, food security, industrial development and the eco-systems on which they depend are all at risk, unless water and land resources are man-aged in a more ecologically appropriate manner than they have been in the past. The problems are far from speculative in nature-they are here, and they affect humanity now.
By Malin Falkenmark and Asit K. Biswas, 1995. Article published in Ambio, Volume 24, Number 6, pages 380-382.