Freshwater reserves around the world are under significant stress and the storage capacity of already stressed basins is decreasing, according to researchers at the Global Institute for Water Security. With roughly one percent of the Earth’s freshwater supply accessible to the human population, researchers wanted to determine how increasing water stress would affect human life around the planet. The team analyzed 1,204 basins across the world to determine how water availability in conjunction with social processes produce vulnerability in communities.  

The main factor analyzed was freshwater stress, “which is the ratio of H2O that is used versus the amount that naturally leaves the watershed or basin each year; the higher the stress, the less water there is available for ecosystems and for people’s demands,” according to the Xander Huggins, one of the study’s authors. After determining water stress, the findings were coupled with data on the changing rate of freshwater storage in underground aquifers and glaciers. The researchers determined that 42 percent of the 478 most stressed basins around the globe are also the ones disproportionally losing storage. And 2.2 billion people are located near drying-out freshwater basins.

In the U.S., groundwater wells are experiencing an increasing problem of scarcity. Indeed, close to 20 percent of all wells are within 16 feet of going dry in response to increased groundwater pumping, a previous study has shown. Additionally, the study also examined scarcity in the U.S. Southwest and determined the Colorado River and Rio Grande River basins are under significant stress. Experts point to overallocation and human-induced climate change as the two biggest contributing factors. One possible solution to increasing stress is to increase resilience practices in water management around the world. Read more at Popular Science or access the original study here.