World Water Day

This year World Water Day is focusing on water and urbanisation. Access to fresh water has become a major issue in the world today with more than a billion people worldwide lacking access to clean drinking water.

The waterways that sustain rowing around the world often run through large urban areas. The Nile River in Cairo, the Thames in London, The Charles River in Boston, the Yarra River in Melbourne, the Tiber in Rome, all have something in common: their multi-purpose usage by the city’s inhabitants. The levels of purity of these waterways vary as does the commitment to improve the water quality.

Urbanisation throughout the world is increasing and with that so is pressure on clean water and the waterways invariably associated with the urban area. Here are a few statistics on urban living:
•    Half of humanity live in cities
•    Every second the urban population grows by two people
•    Urban growth is most rapid in the developing world
•    27 % of urban population in the developing world does not have piped water to the house

Today is the day to bear in mind our waterways and what we do to look after them, especially the waterways we often take for granted as we move our boat and oars through them.