At a recent environment conference in Delhi, Jeffrey Sachs, The director of the UN's Millennium Project warned that the world is running out of water and needs to take drastic action to tackle the shortages that threaten the ability of humanity to feed itself.

"In 2050 we will have 9 billion people and average income will be four times what it is today. India and China have been able to feed their populations because they use water in an unsustainable way. That is no longer possible," he said.

Clean water is without doubt our most precious commodity, yet for many of us we simply turn on one of the taps in the bathroom or kitchen and out it comes, so we take it for granted, assuming that it's a limitless resource... It isn't, and we need to wise up pretty quickly.

Rivers are the world's main source of fresh water and, according to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), almost half of the world's supply is currently being tapped.

A recent report for World Water Day (March 22nd) lists the top ten rivers that are fast dying as a result of climate change, pollution and dams, threatening fresh drinking water, agriculture, fish populations; the things that millions of people rely on to survive.

Top 10 Problem Rivers

Salween China

Damaged by infrastructure, dams

Danube central Europe

Damaged by infrastructure, navigation

La Plata South America

Damaged by infrastructure, dams and navigation

Rio Grande-Rio Bravo North America

Damaged by over-extraction of water

Ganges India

Damaged by over-extraction of water

Indus Pakistan

Damaged by climate change

Nile-Lake Victoria north Africa

Damaged by climate change

Murray-Darling Australia

Damaged by invasive species

Mekong-Lancang South-East Asia

Damaged by over-fishing

Yangtze China

Damaged by pollution

Summary

Our water supplies will not last forever. We need better policies on water usage and dam building, and we all need to become water wise and stop wasting water. Visit our Tips page for some suggestions that can reduce your water wastage.