[originaltext]Everywhere, water use is increasing. Humans already use 54 percen

Everywhere, water use is increasing. Humans already use 54 percent of all the fresh water in rivers, lakes end underground. There are some estimates that this rate will reach 70 percent by 2025. The United Nations is organizing a series of events to increase concern about water issues. U.N. officials have declared 2003 the International Year of Fresh Water. A goal of the campaign is to build support for policies to use water more wisely. Another goal is to get more people to use water in ways that will not hurt the environment.
The world population is more than 6000 million people. More than 1000 million lack safe drinking water. More than 2000 million suffer from diseases linked to dirty water. And, more than 2000 million live without waste-treatment systems. Water was one of the issues discussed at the U.N. Summit of 2000. Leaders said they would work to cut the number of people without safe drinking water in half by 2015. Officials renewed that goal at the Summit on Sustainable Development, in Johannesburg, South Africa. They also promised to cut in half the number of people without safe systems to treat waste by 2015. Soon, the World Water Forum will meet in Kyoto, Japan. Officials plan to release the first U. N. report on world water development. This report will examine the world’s water problems. And it will. offer suggestions on ways to meet future water demands. Experts say international reaction to the U. N. report will be an important test of the political desire to solve the water crisis.
Why did the United Nations declare 2003 to be the International Year of Fresh Water?