Of interest: "Water politics is politics affected by water and water resources. Because of overpopulation, mass consumption, misuse, and water pollution, the availability of drinking water per capita is inadequate and shrinking as of the year 2006. For this reason, water is a strategic resource in the globe and an important element in many political conflicts. It causes health impacts and damage to biodiversity. The serious worldwide water situation is called water crisis.

UNESCO's World Water Development Report (WWDR, 2003) from its World Water Assessment Program indicates that, in the next 20 years, the quantity of water available to everyone is predicted to decrease by 30%. 40% of the world's inhabitants currently have insufficient fresh water for minimal hygiene. More than 2.2 million people died in 2000 from waterborne diseases (related to the consumption of contaminated water) or drought. In 2004, the UK charity WaterAid reported that a child dies every 15 seconds from easily preventable water-related diseases; often this means lack of sewage disposal; see toilet.

To halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water is one of the Millennium Development Goals.

Fresh water -- now more precious than ever in our history for its extensive use in agriculture, high-tech manufacturing, and energy production -- is increasingly receiving attention as a resource requiring better water management and sustainable use.

Organizations concerned in water protection include International Water Association (IWA), WaterAid, Water 1st, American Water Resources Association. Water related conventions are United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Ramsar Convention. World Day for Water takes place at March 22 and World Ocean Day at June 8.

Water used in the production of a good or service is virtual water.." (Source: Wikipedia.org)