Farms 'big threat' to fresh water
UK - Farming poses the biggest threat to fresh water supplies, according to a major United Nations report.Agriculture was consuming more water as the world population increased and as people turned to a Western diet, one of the scientists on the report said.
Farms use two-thirds of fresh water taken from aquifers and other sources.
The UN concludes that ending subsidies on pesticides and fertilisers, and realistic pricing on water, would reduce demand and pollution.
A lack of adequate protective measures now will lead to greater problems in the future, warns the report, entitled Challenges to International Waters: Regional Assessments in a Global Perspective.
Co-ordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep), it brings together evidence from about 1,500 researchers throughout the world.
It was released during the World Water Forum, held this year in Mexico.
Source: BBC
22 March 2006
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