Is there a water problem and why does it matter?

Water scarcity is defined as the lack of freshwater resources to meet water demand. Scarcity may occur either due to a physical shortage, where there is not enough water to meet all demands; or be linked to economics, where scarcity of access is due to failure of institutions to ensure regular supply, or due to a lack of adequate infrastructure. The implications of water scarcity are vast and countering this issue is literally critical to sustaining life on earth. A renewable resource, it is easy to forget that despite water covering 70% of our planet, only 3% is freshwater, of that only...