Water Resources

Water is a fundamental resource that supports human livelihood in the form of agriculture, provision of energy, environmental health and improvement of the entire social well-being. These services provided water have been reported by Connor et al., (2015), to have reduced poverty, increased economic growth and maintained sustainable development when well managed. For a sustainable world, sufficient and safe water is easily accessible by everyone and the integrity of the ecosystem is maintained. However, the unsustainable development practices and failing authorities have affected the quality and availability of water resources globally. This mishap compromises the possibility of generating social and economic benefits from water resources.

In addition, the effects of failed governance of water resources on the quality and availability of fresh water and the implications on social and economic benefits is explained. The authors outline the effects of the increasing global water demand, the potential impacts, the status and availability of water resources and the hidden constraints on water resource management. With an increasing global gross domestic product (GDP) of an average of 3.5% per year from 1960 to 2012 and a population growth, urbanization, migration and industrialization, along with increases in production and consumption Connor et al., (2015) indicate that demands for freshwater resources have also increased. An example of the changing consumption patterns, such as increasing meat consumption, building larger homes and using energy-consuming devices increases water consumption for both production and use was used as emphasis by the

Policies of sustainable development focuses mainly on the human health, food and energy security, urbanization and industrial growth as well as climate change (Connor et al. 2015). However, rapid growth of slum populations in developing countries and the inability of governments to provide adequate water and sanitation facilities in these communities. Studies made by Connor et al. (2015), indicates that by 2050, agriculture will need to produce 60% more food globally, and 100% more in developing countries. Moreover, to be sustainable, water use efficiency must be increased by reducing water losses and applying stringent regulation, enforcement and well-targeted subsidies to increase crop productivity with respect to