Guwahati: The world is entering an era of “global water bankruptcy”, with rivers, lakes and aquifers being depleted faster than they can be naturally replenished, a United Nations research institute has warned.
In a report released on Tuesday, the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) said decades of overuse, pollution, environmental degradation and climate pressures had pushed many water systems beyond recovery, warranting a new classification.
“Water stress and water crisis are no longer sufficient descriptions of the world’s new water realities,” the report said, noting that these terms were originally framed as warnings of a future that could still be avoided.
The institute proposed the term “water bankruptcy” to describe a situation in which long-term water use consistently exceeds resupply, causing irreversible damage to ecosystems and making restoration to previous levels unrealistic.
The report pointed to shrinking large lakes worldwide and an increasing number of major rivers failing to reach the sea for parts of the year as evidence of this trend. It also highlighted the loss of wetlands, estimating that around 410 million hectares — nearly the size of the European Union — have disappeared over the past five decades.
Groundwater depletion was identified as another key indicator. According to the report, nearly 70% of major aquifers used for drinking water and irrigation are experiencing long-term declines, increasing the risk of “day zero” crises, when water demand outstrips supply.
Climate change is further compounding the problem, with more than 30% of the world’s glacier mass lost since 1970, reducing seasonal meltwater supplies relied upon by hundreds of millions of people.
While the impacts are visible across all inhabited continents, not every country is water bankrupt, UNU-INWEH Director and report author Kaveh Madani said. Speaking to AFP, Mr. Madani described the situation as a warning that requires a fundamental policy shift.
“Instead of treating water scarcity as a temporary condition, governments must be honest and acknowledge the reality,” he said, arguing that early recognition could prevent further irreversible damage.
The report is based on existing datasets and seeks to redefine the global water situation rather than provide an exhaustive assessment. Its findings are drawn from a peer-reviewed study to be published in the journal Water Resources Management, which will formally propose a definition of “water bankruptcy”.
WaterAid chief executive Tim Wainwright said the report underscored a hard truth that the global water crisis had crossed a critical threshold. Some scientists, however, cautioned that while the global outlook was alarming, conditions varied widely across regions and local progress should not be overlooked.