Last week, scientists gathered to discuss Earth’s biophysical limits and whether continued economic growth is possible within finite resources. This interview focuses on freshwater, a renewable but increasingly limited resource. Only 3% of the planet’s water is fresh, but most of it (about two thirds) is not available as it is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. Most countries already face shortages of freshwater.
New Zealand is one of few countries in the world with an abundance of freshwater, but some rivers and aquifers are at risk of depletion. As a new policy on freshwater is coming into effect on July 1, Clive Howard-Williams, an aquatic ecologist at the National Institute of Water and Atmosphere, discusses limits on freshwater quality and quantity and how water management could be improved.
