Conservation “is the biggest untapped solution” when it comes to tackling global water threats, according to Sandra Postel, the founder of the Global Water Policy Project and 2021’s Stockholm Water Prize laureate.
“We're using more and more [water], and of course water is finite. We're tapping out some of the groundwater supplies, we're over-tapping rivers, [and] we have major rivers running dry,” said Postel, who began communicating about the global water crisis — encompassing the threats of water scarcity, climate change, and the loss of freshwater biodiversity — over 40 years ago.
Historically, solutions have been focused on expanding the water supply, she said. “If we're going to run short, build a new dam, build another diversion from the river to the city, [or] build a desalination plant. Conservation wasn't really looked at as anything other than an emergency response to drought.”