Philippines faces 'high' level of water

shortage in 2040 study

The country's agricultural sector will bear the brunt of the predicted water scarcity, according to
a new World Resources Institute study.
MANILA, Philippines The Philippines is in danger of experiencing water scarcity in 25 years,
according to a new study. The study, conducted by think tank World Resources Institute (WRI),
predicts the Philippines will experience a "high" degree of water shortage in the year 2040. The
Southeast Asian country ranked 57th likely most water stressed country in 2040 out of 167
countries. The sector that will bear the brunt of water shortage by that year is agriculture, a
major component of the countrys economy. The study defined water stress as the ratio
between total water withdrawals and available renewable surface water at a sub-catchment
level.
Countries were given a score from 0 to 5, with higher scores corresponding to greater
competition among water users given limited sources of water. The Philippines garnered a total
score of 3.0 indicating high level of water stress. The study went further, predicting the degree
of water shortage for 3 specific sectors: industrial, domestic, and agricultural. For the
Philippines, the predicted degree of water stress for agriculture is the highest among the 3,
earning a score of 3.26. Water stress for the industrial sector and domestic use was graded
medium to high, with a score of 2.96 and 2.92, respectively. But the study said country scores,
being a weighted average, does not reflect future water scarcity for smaller localities. Thus,
though the overall water stress projection for the country is high, specific regions like Mindanao
could experience more extreme cases of water shortage than the national average.
Water-insecure world
According to the rankings, countries in the Middle East and Africa faced the grimmest water
security scenario.
Out of the 33 likely most water stressed countries in 2040, 14 are from the Middle East. Eight
countries also scored 5 out of 5 indicating extremely high water insecurity in 2040.

The 8 countries are:

1. Bahrain
2. Kuwait
3. Qatar
4. San Marino
5. Singapore
6. United Arab Emirates
7. Palestine
8. Israel
Where is the water going?
Widespread water shortage in the world is being driven by two major factors: climate change
and the worlds growing population.
Climate change will cause temperatures to rise and rainfall patterns all over the world to
change. This means traditional water sources could dry up and some countries may become
drier as other countries experience more rainfall than usual.
At the same time, the world is set to have 2 billion more people by 2050. The dwindling
supply of water and the surging demand for the resource is likely to lead to water shortage in
many parts of the world.
The Philippines is already feeling the effects of a drier climate. The ongoing El Nio
phenomenon, predicted to become the strongest in modern history, has led to drought in
many provinces.
The dry spell is taking a toll on the agricultural sector with billions of pesos worth of crops
damaged so far.

Source: published by Pia Ranada, Rappler.com