Table of Contents

Editor's Foreword vii

Preface xix

1 Introduction 1

2 Water in the Global Life-Support System of the Earth 6

2.1 Water - a unique substance 8

2.2 Why are life and water an inseparable unit? 12

2.3 The third equilibrium 13

2.4 Human life on Earth 19

2.5 What kind of framework does nature provide for using water? 24

2.6 Water usage through nature and society 27

2.7 Blue and green water 29

2.8 Summary 35

3 How is Water Used? - Regional Examples 37

3.1 The Aral Sea 37

3.2 The River Nile 47

4 How Much Water is Available? - A New Perspective 64

4.1 The Dublin statement on water and sustainable development 66

4.2 Water in numbers 72

5 Water and Land Use 75

5.1 What do people do locally? 75

5.2 What do people do globally? 83

5.3 How have people changed global land use? 89

5.4 People were nomads 90

5.5 People became farmers 95

5.6 People are city dwellers 99

5.7 People behave differently than the Earth system 103

5.8 Water for people and nature 106

5.9 Summary 114

6 How Much Water Do People Need? 116

6.1 Drinking water 117

6.2 Sanitary water 117

6.3 Water for industry 123

6.4 Water for food 127

6.5 Water and lifestyles 132

6.6 Summary 137

7 Virtual Water 139

7.1 What is virtual water? 141

7.2 Combing consumption and environmental sustainability: The Water Footprint 147

8 The Future of our Water Resources 155

8.1 How much water will we need in the future? 155

8.2 Where will the additional water come from? 162

8.3 Using water better: more crop per drop 167

8.4 Ways to achieve the sustainable use of the water resources 176

Glossary 182

References 185