Water

Water - Our Most Precious Resource

"We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one."
Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997)

"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Of the world’s water resources, only 2.5 % is fresh water.
Of this fresh water, only about one third is available for human use with the rest contained in polar ice caps and glaciers.
The world's food production depends on the availability of water, a precious but finite resource.
Today, irrigation covers about 20 percent of the world’s cropland, and it contributes 40 percent of total food production.
Irrigated agriculture is responsible for approximately 70 percent of all the freshwater withdrawn in the world.
More water will be used for irrigation in the future, as world food production continues to increase to meet demand.
The challenge for irrigated agriculture today is to contribute to the world’s food production and improvement of food security through a more efficient, cleaner and integrated use of water. (Land and Water Division, Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome 2002).