Aug 8, 2019

The countries most at risk of a water crisis

17 countries use more than 80% of their available water supplies every year, meaning droughts or increased water demand for agriculture and growing cities could leave them at risk of crisis, according to the World Resources Institute.

Data: World Resources Institute; Chart: Chris Canipe/Axios. Note: Baseline water stress measures the ratio of total water withdrawals to available renewable water supplies.
Data: World Resources Institute; Chart: Chris Canipe/Axios. Note: Baseline water stress measures the ratio of total water withdrawals to available renewable water supplies.

Zoom in, and more pockets of concern emerge. States like New Mexico in the U.S. and cities such as Cape Town, South Africa — which nearly ran out of drinking water last year — have "extremely high" stress levels.

Where things stand: A dangerous combination of hot and dry weather, poor water management and rising demand is leaving cities including Chennai, India, and Harare, Zimbabwe, without water for days on end, Tanvi Nagpal of Johns Hopkins writes for Axios Expert Voices:

What to watch: The pressures on municipal water supplies are likely to worsen with the effects of climate change.

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