State of Global Water Resources Report

• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently released its first State of Global Water Resources Report to assess the impact of environmental, climatic and social changes on the world’s water resources. 

• Its objective is to support the monitoring and effective management of freshwater resources across the world at a time when the demand is high and supply is very limited.

• The area with below-average streamflow is two times larger than the above-average area when compared with the 30-year hyd

• rological average. The areas having below-average streamflow are:

• South America’s Rio de la Plata area, where drought has remained persistent since 2019

• South and South-East Amazon

• River basins like the Colorado, Missouri and Mississippi in North America

• In 2021, rivers in Africa like Niger, Volta, Nile and Congo experienced less than normal discharge. Similarly, rivers in several parts of Russia, West Siberia and Central Asia also experienced lower-than-average discharge during the same period.