Water is the foundation of all life, yet today it is under greater pressure than ever. Across the world, overuse, pollution, and the climate crisis are pushing freshwater systems toward their limits. According to the Wasseratlas 2025, 2.2 billion people lack regular access to clean drinking water, while extreme weather events — droughts, floods, heat — are becoming more frequent as the planet warms.
The way we use land and shape rivers also accelerates these crises. Straightened rivers, sealed surfaces, dams, and diversions disrupt natural water cycles, destroy habitats, and reduce the land’s ability to store water. Over-extraction for agriculture remains a major driver of scarcity, leaving ecosystems and communities struggling to cope.
Pollution adds another heavy burden. Microplastics, PFAS “forever chemicals,” pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and excess nutrients contaminate rivers, lakes, and groundwater. More than half of German rivers show dangerously high phosphorus levels, and many groundwater bodies fail to meet good chemical status.
Despite this, the path forward is clear: natural solutions work. Restoring wetlands and floodplains, renaturing rivers, rewetting peatlands, and re-greening landscapes help store water, cool local climates, restore biodiversity, and rebuild healthy water cycles. These nature-based strategies protect people from floods and droughts and give ecosystems the chance to recover.
Water shapes life — and how we protect it today will shape the world of tomorrow.