Review of World Water Resources by Country


Water Reports 23




FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome, 2003

Table of Contents



The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

ISBN 92-5-104899-1

All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected]

© FAO 2003


Table of Contents


FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LIST OF ACRONYMS

GLOSSARY

1. INTRODUCTION

The Aquastat programme
Existing sources of global information on water resources

2. CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

Types of water resources

Renewable and non-renewable water resources
Natural and actual renewable water resources
Exploitable water resources

Internal renewable water resources, surface water and groundwater
External water resources
Outflow
Water quality and non-conventional water sources

Water quality
Non-conventional water sources

3. METHOD USED TO COMPUTE WATER RESOURCES BY COUNTRY

Data sources
Assessing internal renewable water resources
Scale and impact of evaporation
Assessing external renewable water resources and total resources
Assessing total renewable water resources and the dependency ratio
Assessing exploitable resources

Remarks

4. WORLD WATER RESOURCES BY COUNTRY

Summary of world water resources

World water resources
The distribution of water
Exploitable renewable resources

Assessment of results
Data evaluation

Precipitation
Surface water (renewable)
Groundwater (renewable)
Total water resources
Data production

Comparison with previous studies
The potential of models for global water resources assessment

Description of the model
Data sources used in the model
Results of the model and comparison with country-based data

Concluding remarks

Future improvements
The future of water resources

5. REGIONAL OVERVIEW

Region 1: Northern America

General features

Alaska, Canada and Greenland
Mexico
The United States of America

Water resources

Region 2: Central America and Caribbean

General features

Central America
Caribbean

Water resources

Region 3: Southern America

General Features

Guyana
Andean
Brazil
Southern

Water resources
Exchanges

Region 4: Western and Central Europe

General features

Contrasting climates
A high density of small rivers
Variability of runoff regimes

Exchanges

Uneven distribution of water resources among the population
Subregional analysis

Region 5: Eastern Europe

General features

Climate
Water Resources

Exchanges

Region 6: Africa

General features

Northern Africa
Sudano-Sahelian
Gulf of Guinea
Central Africa
Eastern Africa
Indian Ocean Islands
Southern Africa

Water resources in the Africa region
Exchanges and shared resources

Region 7: Near East

General features

Water scarcity
Non-conventional water resources

Water resources

Region 8: Central Asia

General features
The Aral Sea
Exchanges

Region 9: Southern and Eastern Asia

General features

Indian Subcontinent
Eastern Asia
Far East
Southeast Asia
Islands

Water resources

Region 10: Oceania and Pacific

General features

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANNEX 1. LIST OF WATER REGIONS AND SUBREGIONS

ANNEX 2. WATER RESOURCES PER COUNTRY AND TERRITORY

ANNEX 3. MAPS

ANNEX 4. LIST OF SOURCES

Back Cover