UAE committed to ensure adequate water supply for the country's population - Bin Fahd

Abu Dhabi, March 22, 2011 (WAM) - Adequate water supply to meet the demand of the country's population always remained among the top priorities of UAE despite the pressures and challenges faced by water resources, said Minister of Environment and Water Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahd.
He added that though the demand continued to rise during the past for decades, the entire population was able to get sufficient water supply for various needs.
In a statement made to mark the World Water Day (WWD), which falls on 22nd March, the minister said that the issue of water has emerged as one of the priority issues at the global level in the past few decades due to the increasing pressures as well as the natural and anthropogenic challenges. These challenges have made several countries with abundant water resources to fall into the rank of countries with scarce water resources, he noted.
The increase of population, the steady and rapid pace of development, changing patterns of consumption, pollution and the impact of climate change represent the most significant pressures facing the water resources at the local and global levels, Bin Fahd said.
This year the WWD is being observed under the theme Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge. According to a UN estimate about half of the world's population, that is over three billion are residing in cities. - Emirates News Agency, WAM