A Survey of Worldwide Water Scarcity

"So is the world’s most water-stressed city one where all these contributing factors – natural aridity and low rainfall, poor management, increasing population and exploitation of the aquifer – converge?" asks an article by Katherine Purvis. "Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, might just be that city," but there are plenty of examples of each of those factors are pushing residents to the water supply limits.

Among cities like Aswan, Egypt and São Paulo, Brazil, Purvis includes Los Angeles and much of the state of California in her survey of water stressed regions. The article devotes much of its time to cautionary tales—places where water supply is mismanaged or worse—in an effort to locate solutions for the world's water stress. Meanwhile, according to the article, more than "2.5 billion people don’t have access to basic levels of fresh water for at least one month each year…"