Could water shortages be the cause of the next major international conflict? With around 1.8 billion people estimated to be living in water scarcity by 2025, British water charity Just A Drop is asking this question in a seminar to be held on April 29 in London.

Just A Drop founder and chairman Fiona Jeffery said: "Water is such a significant resource and plays such a crucial role in many aspects of our lives. This importance could unfortunately lead to major international conflicts as countries battle to secure water supplies in the same way oil has lead to international friction."

Water management is increasingly under the spotlight due to the emerging scientific evidence on the impacts of climate change. The discussion is not about what may happen in the distant future - water shortages are already being felt around the world.

It is not only 'developing' countries that are affected; the seminar in London pointed out that some of the world's most established and emerging economies - including parts of the US, China, the Middle East, and India - are already suffering chronic water shortages. As debates rage on water as an essential commodity that could lead to future conflict, the discussions in Malta have also led to an acknowledgement of the need to regulate and manage limited fresh water reserves.

As an island nation that draws the majority of its water supply from the sea through desalination plants at considerable cost, fresh water is naturally a precious resource. The Malta Resources Authority (MRA), the country's regulator, drew attention to this in a statement last week: "Historically, Malta has been constrained by lack of water as a result of its climatic conditions, which limit the availability of freshwater in times of need. Malta is one of those countries in the Mediterranean which is under the constant pressure of water scarcity."

Yet, it is a resource that is still unregulated. According to figures released by the MRA, groundwater abstractors, including the Water Services Corporation (WSC) as a public utility, industry, retailers and farmers together extract around 11 million cubic metres more than the sustainable capacity of Malta's aquifers.

In the meantime, the predictions of the consequences of climate change on Malta are bleak. A European Commission White Paper addressing the challenges has placed Malta right in the middle of the two regions most vulnerable to the multifaceted threats of climate change.

The Commission said the most vulnerable regions in Europe are southern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. The fact that Malta is a small island state further exacerbates the multiple threats it is facing. These include rising sea levels, coastal flooding, escalating temperatures, coastal erosion, energy and water supply.

Changes in precipitation and groundwater will intensify the risk of drought, according to the Commission. In its report about 18 months ago, the IPCC (grouping the world's most eminent scientists) had said that climate change in southern Europe would worsen conditions in a region already vulnerable to climatic variability. Over the coming decades, the scientists forecast ever-rising temperatures leading to drought and significantly reduced availability of fresh water.

The evidence points to the need for an effective management plan for Malta's groundwater. The action taken so far is based on two legal notices published in 2008 requiring the notification of boreholes and introducing new regulations for drilling boreholes or for the undertaking of excavation works in the aquifer. A moratorium for one year was also established prohibiting the drilling of boreholes.

The MRA spoke of future action: "The next steps shall aim to regulate the operational side of water distribution... This requires that some form of administrative measures, to ensure a fair allocation of groundwater quota, is put in place."

Such measures are to be implemented over the next five years. By then, the MRA should have a clear idea of precisely what kind of administrative measures are required. The benefits of turning words into action are recognised by the MRA: "Improved water management will translate into a more strategic reserve to buffer against climate change, the effects of spiralling oil prices and any unforeseeable offshore incident which may seriously cripple our desalination facilities."

Political and economic will can avert the writing on the wall.

Liquid Assets

Your fridge contains more water than you think. The bottle of mineral water, for instance, used five times its volume in the manufacture of the bottle. That steak came from a cow that had to be fed and watered for three years. This figure is known as a 'water footprint' - below is an idea of how your daily rations add up.

1 can of soft drink
Water footprint: 200 litres
Despite containing only 0.35 litres of water, a can of soft drink has a water footprint of 200 litres due to its sugar content. Sugar cane, being a tropical crop, requires plenty of irrigation.

1kg of beef
Water footprint: 15,500 litres
Almost all of a steak's water footprint is created by the grain used as cattle feed.

300g of cheese
Water footprint: 1,500 litres
Food water footprints vary according to farming methods and climate. Cheese produced in India has a water footprint 3.5 times that of cheese produced in Ireland, due to the climatic differences.

1 loaf of white bread
Water footprint: 800 litres
The worldwide production of wheat, used to make loaves of bread, consumes 790bn m3 every year - that's 12 per cent of the global water use for crop production.

1kg of lamb
Water footprint: 6,100 litres
Lamb has one of the smallest livestock water footprints, despite the 18 months required to rear and feed the sheep. This is mostly because relatively little grain is used as feed.

1kg of chicken
Water footprint: 3,900 litres
A chicken will consume over 3kg of grain and needs 30 litres of water in the 10 weeks before its slaughter.

Box of six eggs
Water footprint: 1,200 litres
An egg's water footprint is created largely by the water required to grow the grain which is used in rearing the chicken.

1 litre of milk
Water footprint: 1,000 litres
Milk has the second largest agricultural water footprint, only beef is higher. This is due to the water required to grow feed and for the animals to drink.

1 orange
Water footprint: 50 litres
Fruit has a high footprint due to the level of irrigation. Citrus fruit in particular has a very high footprint, topped only by bananas and grapes.

1 bottle of wine
Water footprint: 720 litres
Most of the water footprint for a bottle of wine is created in the irrigation of the vineyard.

1 tomato
Water footprint: 8.2 litres
Tomatoes are a water-intensive crop, often grown in water-scarce regions.

How to reduce your 'water footprint'

The University of Twente in the Netherlands has launched waterfootprint.org, a website allowing you to measure the 'water footprint' of the manufacture and transport of groceries, clothes, stationery and electrical goods.

Source: guardian.co.uk