Water resources are getting scarcer all around the world. Even in a country such as the Netherlands—for centuries the victim of flooding—pollution and population pressures are putting ever greater demands on precious water reserves. Further south, Spain is only just recovering from its worst drought this century. Six years without rain left crops without irrigation and the water supply cut off for hours every day.
These problems in Europe are being repeated elsewhere, and agencies such as the United Nations are warning that governments must act now to prevent a catastrophe in the future.
In the third and final documentary in the series “The Thirsty Earth”, James McDonald looks at the issue and asks just what can be done to solve the problem.
Producer: James McDonald
Broadcast: November 1997