Water Stress

Outside of the base-load water demand in the Middle East and key regional markets (e.g. Northern Africa, western U.S., northern Chile), the demand for new supplies must be viewed with different goals and strategies. Peaking water markets, such as Australia, South Africa, Spain, western U.S. require a more strategic approach to manage water supplies as water availability rises and falls.

India and China’s domestic and industrial demands exacerbate their 1,539 m3/person/year and 2,060 m3/person/year availability, respectively. Water constraints already pose significant threats to industrialization, including power supply, in these countries. For India, key regions in stress include Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The northern Chinese provinces of Shadong, Hebie, Shanxi, and Henan confront extreme scarcity.

A host of sub-Saharan countries—Namibia, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia—are water scarce. South Africa’s large industrial footprint has been the primary focus, but limited water supplies place mining and industrial activity across other sub-Saharan countries at risk. Uranium mining companies in Namibia, where mining represents as much as 10% of GDP, are currently struggling to meet operating needs due to water scarcity.

Increasingly, publicly traded companies are incorporating water into their corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports that highlight the growing risks to water stress on operations. To date, the announced goals—measured across ten industries—target overall reductions in water usage. Increasingly, companies are setting water-related goals for water reuse, decreasing discharged contaminants, or more basically establishing a water management plan across all facilities.