A United Nations report has warned of a looming global water crisis and an "imminent risk" of shortages due to overconsumption and climate change.
Ednews reports that the world is "blindly travelling a dangerous path" of "vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment", the report says.
Its publication comes before the first major UN water summit since 1977.
Thousands of delegates will attend the three-day gathering in New York which begins on Wednesday.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says water, "humanity's lifeblood", is being drained by "unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming".
The report, published by UN Water and Unesco, warns that "scarcity is becoming endemic" because of overconsumption and pollution, while global warming will increase seasonal water shortages in both areas with abundant water and those already strained.