This report examines the measures taken in Australia, one of the first counties in the world to have to face up to serious water shortages, in managing its water resources.

The world has experienced enormous human population growth since the beginning of the 20th century. This growth has increased the basic human demand for water for food production as well as for drinking and sanitation.

The same period has also experienced a substantial growth in water use per capita. The increased demand for water has also been driven by an escalating urbanization process. This process is continuing with most of the future population growth expected to take place within cities.

At the same time eating and drinking habits are changing to favour products that require more water input into their production, and the demand for a whole range of consumer goods, many of which involve water-intensive production processes, is also growing.

The combined impact of these forces has seen massive increases in water consumption.