In general, this term is divided into three categories: a. Annual water availability below 1,700 cubic meters per capita per year is called water stress; b. If this value drops under 1,000 cubic meters, it is already called water scarcity; and c. A level below 500 cubic meters per capita per year is related to absolute water scarcity (UN-Water 2014).

Worldwide, about 700 million people are affected by water scarcity; this figure is likely to increase to about 1.8 billion people by 2025! Furthermore, two-thirds of the world’s population may live in areas with acute water stress (UN-Water 2014). In the face of this lack of water, global water consumption is currently 1,200 cubic meters per person per year.

Apart from physical water scarcity, there is also economic water scarcity, which is related to the possible water supply, in terms of infrastructure, water management and policy. A growing problem is related to the progressive privatization of water stocks, which requires regulatory authorities to focus on pricing for the less- privileged sector of society.

The Philippines is one of 37 Asian countries cited by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as "either suffering from low levels of water security, or have barely begun to engage in the essential task of improving water security." In 2013 the ADB said local public utilities responsible for providing water and sanitation services to local communities "were found to lack capacity in all aspects of sustainability, including effective functioning, financing and demand responsiveness."

Although more and more people are consuming much more water, domestic water consumption is not the biggest problem. Regarding the different consumer sectors, agriculture is globally responsible for the bulk of water consumption (up to 85 percent of the Philippines’s water demand comes from agriculture. Industry and the domestic sector are the next largest water consumers). Due to the annual increase of food demand, water demand is expected to double within the next 50 years.

Ways of overcoming this problem may be the increased use and treatment of rainwater, waste water and the desalination of sea water. The latter, however, is a financially and energetically very complex procedure. Far simpler solutions may generally be seen in the field of saving water, raising public awareness of this precious finite commodity and in political framework concerning management and distribution of water.

The worst-case scenario predicts a water crisis in the Philippines by 2025. This prediction by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) identified Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Baguio, Angeles and Davao as among those to be worst hit by a severe water shortage by 2025.

Knowledge of this impending emergency prompted the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines  to make “water” one of its advocacies; we have been running Water Challenge Forums for some time and intend to do this again this year in Manila, in Cebu and in Davao.

The forums are multisectoral gatherings involving the government, water utilities and private business firms that together will discuss issues, such as increasing sustainable access to water supply, water security, conservation, water management and the perspective of the leading water users, especially agriculture that accounts for up to 85 percent of the freshwater used in the Philippines every year.

To be the hardest hit by this life-threatening water crisis a scant decade away will be the poor, which are also the hardest hit today. It remains a humiliating fact that the poor pay a whole lot more for water than any other social class.

By 2025, all of the following three goals must be accomplished: universal access coverage and sustained utility operations; continued coverage expansion of existing formal utilities at par with population growth and regulation of all water-service providers.

While the onus of protecting freshwater sources rests with the state that owns all water sources in this country, citizens can play a key role by conserving water.

Source: Business Mirror