Front matter [PDF format - 538 KB]

Table of contents [PDF format - 79 KB]

Foreword, Prologue and Preface [PDF format - 548 KB]

Index of Figures, Maps, Boxes and Tables [PDF format - 186 KB]

Acknowledgements [PDF format - 99 KB]

Part I: Setting the Scene

Part I presents the background, starting with an introduction to the water crisis in its many shapes and forms. It then provides a glimpse on the milestones of the long policy road that has brought us to where we stand today, and proposes some tools to help us assess our progress towards building a better future.

Chapter 1 - The World's Water Crisis [PDF format - 1.3 MB]
Chapter 2 - Milestones [PDF format - 1.4 MB]
Chapter 3 - Signing Progress: Indicators Mark the Way [PDF format - 1.2 MB]

Part II: A Look at the World's Freshwater Resources

Solid, vapour and liquid, water is diverse by its very nature. For the Earth's inhabitants, this diversity also means great disparities in well-being and development. This part provides a brief look at the current state of freshwater, in all the world's regions.

Chapter 4 - The Natural Water Cycle [PDF format - 2 MB]
Lead agencies: UNESCO and WMO

Part III: Challenges to Life and Well-Being

This section explores the ways in which we use water and the increasing demands we are placing on the resource.

:: Further details on these challenges are available online

Chapter 5 - Basic Needs and the Right to Health [PDF format - 1.5 MB]
Lead agency: WHO
Collaborating agency: UNICEF
Chapter 6 - Protecting Ecosystems for People and Planet [PDF format - 1.3 MB]
Lead agency: UNEP
Collaborating agencies: UNECE / WHO / UNCBD / UNESCO / UNDESA / UNU
Chapter 7 - Competing Needs in an Urban Environment [PDF format - 801 KB]
Lead agency: UN - HABITAT
Collaborating agencies: WHO and UNDESA
Chapter 8 - Securing Food for a Growing World Population [PDF format - 1.4 MB]
Lead agency: FAO
Collaborating agencies: WHO / UNEP / IAEA
Chapter 9 - Promoting Cleaner Industry for Everyone's Benefit [PDF format - 662 KB]
Lead agency: UNIDO
Collaborating agencies: WHO and UNDESA
Chapter 10 - Developing Energy to Meet Development Needs [PDF format - 790 KB]
Lead agency: UNIDO
Collaborating agencies: WHO / UNEP / Regional Commissions / World Bank

Part IV: Fitting the Pieces Together

This section examines the ways in which the competing needs, uses and demands elucidated in the previous part might be met. It discusses a few of the any tools available to decision-makers and communities to help them shape policy and practice so as to encourage an efficient and equitable use of the resource.

:: Further details on these challenges are available online

Chapter 11 - Mitigating Risk and Coping with Uncertainty [PDF format - 1 MB]
Lead agency: WMO
Collaborating agencies: UNDESA / UNESCO / WHO / UNEP / ISDR / CCD / CBD / Regional Commissions
Chapter 12 - Sharing Water: Defining a Common Interest [PDF format - 1.3 MB]
Lead agency: UNESCO Collaborating agencies: Regional Commissions
Chapter 13 - Recognizing and Valuing the Many Faces of Water [PDF format - 832 KB]
Lead agency: UNDESA
Collaborating agencies: UNECE and World Bank
Chapter 14 - Ensuring the Knowledge Base: A Collective Responsibility [PDF format - 851 KB]
Lead agencies: UNESCO and WMO
Collaborating agencies: UNDESA / IAEA / World Bank / UNEP / UNU
Chapter 15 - Governing Water Wisely for Sustainable Development [PDF format - 886 KB]
Lead agency: UNDP
Collaborating agencies: FAO / UNEP / UNCBD / Regional Commissions

Part V: Pilot Case Studies: A Focus on Real-World Examples

This section checks the accuracy of the big picture on the basis of snapshots of water in the field. Seven case studies are presented here, to observe the effectiveness of different approaches to integrated management and to test our indicators for measuring progress.

:: Further details on these case studies are available online.

Chapter 16 - Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand [PDF format - 1 MB]
Office of Natural Water Resources Committee of Thailand (ONWRC)
Chapter 17 - Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe-Pskovskoe, Estonia and the Russian Federation [PDF format - 938 KB]
Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, and the Ministry of the Environment of Estonia
Chapter 18 - Ruhuna Basins, Sri Lanka [PDF format - 1.2 MB]
Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management of Sri Lanka
Chapter 19 - Seine-Normandy Basin, France [PDF format - 1 MB]
Water Agency of Seine-Normandy (AESN, Agence de l'Eau Seine-Normandie)
Chapter 20 - Senegal River Basin, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal [PDF format - 1 MB]
Organization for the Development of the Senegal River
(OMVS, Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve du Sénégal)
Chapter 21 - Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia and Peru [PDF format - 1.1 MB]
Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca
(ALT, Autoridad Binacional del Lago Titicaca Perú-Bolivia)
Chapter 22 - Greater Tokyo, Japan [PDF format - 1.2 MB]
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management - Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan (NILIM-MLIT)

Part VI: Management Challenges: Stewardship and Governance

This section concludes the Report by putting together the pieces that make up the giant puzzle of factors contributing to today's global water situation. Many country tables are included in the chapter.

Chapter 23 - The World's Water Crisis: Fitting the Pieces Together [PDF format - 2.3 MB]

Annexes

Acronyms [PDF format - 99 KB]

List of other UN assessments [PDF format - 154 KB]

Index [PDF format - 659 KB]

Credits [PDF format - 78 KB]

Back matter [PDF format - 506 KB]

The 1^st Report, 'Water for People, Water for Life', was published on 22 March 2003. The 2^nd Report, 'Water, a shared responsibility', was published on 22 March2006.
:: Access the 2^nd United Nations World Water Development Report, 'Water, a shared responsibility'