New Publication - Water Quality for Ecosystem and Human Health

"Water Quality for Ecosystem and Human Health" is the first report of its kind produced by UNEP’s GEMS/Water Programme.  Drawing on examples from around the world, the report presents assessments of current status and trends in water quality.  It also provides an introduction to a diverse range of issues of concern in global water quality, and approaches to their detection, analysis, and resolution.  The target audience includes academia, research scientists, and water practitioners.  It is intended to be particularly useful and encouraging for our colleagues and their constituents in developing and transitional countries.

It is difficult to obtain a global picture of water quality as different countries and regions struggle with a range of environmental pressures and the reality of limited resources available for monitoring, assessment and remediation.  However, the report highlights five key messages:

1. Human-driven processes often have the greatest negative impact on the quality of water resources, even in remote environments; 2. Impaired aquatic ecosystems can lead to impaired human health and socio-economic decline; 3. There are new threats to the health of aquatic ecosystems for example, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, requiring immediate attention by regulatory authorities at local, national and global levels; 4. Successful procedures have been developed for the restoration of aquatic ecosystems including damage caused by acidification and eutrophication, and 5. Baseline monitoring data for aquatic ecosystems is a priority.  Long-term monitoring is also required to track the effectiveness of policies and interventions.

The data and analyses presented in this report are derived from GEMStat, the global water quality database accessible at www.gemstat.org.  These data are a vital contribution to monitoring progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal and World Summit on Sustainable Development targets on water and sanitation.   Although many challenges remain to properly protect aquatic ecosystem health, there is proof that success can be reached with planning, political and institutional will, and financial and technical resources.  The future of water quality at local, regional, and global scales depends on investments of individuals, communities, and governments at all political levels to ensure that water resources are protected and managed in a sustainable manner, and that our good health is the result. 

"Water Quality for Ecosystem and Human Health" is available in English in PDF and HTML formats at http://www.gemswater.org/freshwater_assessments/index-e.html    
Comments and feedback are most welcome, contact sabrina.barker@gemswater.org.