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A The history of human civilisation is entwined with the history of the ways we have learned to manipulate water resources. A 人类的文明史总是与学习利用水资源的历史交织在一起。 As towns gradually expanded, water was brought from increasingly remote sources, leading to sophisticated engineering efforts such as dams and aqueducts. 随着城镇规模的不断扩大，水被从遥远的源头引流到城镇，这促成了水坝和水渠等复杂工程的修建。 At the height of the Roman Empire, nine major systems, with an innovative layout of pipes and well-built sewers, supplied the occupants of Rome with as much water per person as is provided in many parts of the industrial world today. 在罗马帝国鼎盛时期，人们修建了9 条主要水利系统，其输水管道和污水管道均以革新的方式铺设，为城区居民提供用水。当时罗马城内居民人均用水量和现今工业社会很多地区的人均用水量相当。

B During the industrial revolution and population explosion of the 19th and 20th centuries, the demand for water rose dramatically. B 在19 世纪和20 世纪工业革命及人口扩张时期，水的需求量急剧增长。 Unprecedented construction of tens of thousands of monumental engineering projects designed to control floods, protect clean water supplies, and provide water for irrigation and hydropower brought great benefits to hundreds of millions of people. 当时，出现了史无前例的大型水利工程：那些数以万计的水利工程旨在防洪、保证清洁水资源的供应、提供足够的水以用于农田灌溉和水力发电，这造福了上千万人。 Food production has kept pace with soaring populations mainly because of the expansion of artificial irrigation systems that make possible the growth of 40 % of the world's food. 食品供应能跟上人口剧增主要是由于人工灌溉系统的扩张使得世界粮食产量提高了40%。 Nearly one fifth of all the electricity generated worldwide is produced by turbines spun by the power of falling water. 世界上1/5 的电都是通过水力推动涡轮机而产生的。

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C Yet there is a dark side to this picture: despite our progress, half of the world's population still suffers, with water services inferior to those available to the ancient Greeks and Romans. C 当然我们也要看到事情不足的一面：虽然我们取得了进步，但世界上仍有一半的人口处于受疾病折磨的生存状态，享受的供水服务还比不上古希腊和古罗马时期。 As the United Nations report on access to water reiterated in November 2001, more than one billion people lack access to clean drinking water; some two and a half billion do not have adequate sanitation services. 正如联合国在2001 年9 月关于水利用的报告中指出的那样：全世界仍然有超过10 亿的人口无法获得干净的饮用水，约25 亿人缺乏充足的卫生设施。 Preventable water-related diseases kill an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 children every day, and the latest evidence suggests that we are falling behind in efforts to solve these problems. 每天有1 万—2 万名儿童死于与水相关的各种可预防疾病，而最新证据表明我们解决上述问题的力度还远远不够。

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D The consequences of our water policies extend beyond jeopardising human health. D 我们的水资源政策的后果远非仅仅危及人类健康那么简单。 Tens of millions of people have been forced to move from their homes - often with little warning or compensation - to make way for the reservoirs behind dams. 为了修建大坝和水库，上千万人在未被告知或得到补偿的情况下被迫背井离乡。 More than 20% of all fresh water fish species are now threatened or endangered because dams and water withdrawals have destroyed the free-flowing river ecosystems where they thrive. 超过20% 的淡水鱼类正面临威胁或是濒临灭绝，原因是修建水库及水资源开采破坏了它们繁衍生息的天然河流生态系统。 Certain irrigation practices degrade soil quality and reduce agricultural productivity. 有些灌溉系统破坏了土壤的质量，从而导致农业产量下降。 Groundwater aquifers*are being pumped down faster than they are naturally replenished in parts of India, China, the USA and elsewhere. 在印度、中国、美国及世界其他地方的某些地区，地表水含水量正在快速下降，下降的速度已经超出了它们自我更新和补充的能力。 And disputes over shared water resources have led to violence and continue to raise local, national and even international tensions. 而关于水资源如何合理分配的争议也在不断导致暴力事件的出现，从而加剧了区域的、国家的乃至国家间的紧张局势。

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E At the outset of the new millennium, however, the way resource planners think about water is beginning to change. E 然而，新千年伊始，资源规划者关于水资源的思路开始有了改变。 The focus is slowly shifting back to the provision of basic human and environmental needs as top priority -ensuring 'some for all, 'instead of 'more for some'. 焦点慢慢回到了保证基本水资源供应和满足环保需求这两大当务之急上，将过去“少部分人先用起来”的水资源政策变成了现在“人人有水用”的政策。 Some water experts are now demanding that existing infrastructure be used in smarter ways rather than building new facilities, which is increasingly considered the option of last, not first, resort. 一些水利专家强调现有的水利设施应该更好地被利用起来，而不是再建新项目——新建水利项目应该被作为最后一根救命稻草而不是第一要务。 This shift in philosophy has not been universally accepted, and it comes with strong opposition from some established water organisations. 这种观念上的转变并没有被普遍接受，相反却遭到了很多水利建设部门的强烈反对。 Nevertheless, it may be the only way to address successfully the pressing problems of providing everyone with clean water to drink, adequate water to grow food and a life free from preventable water-related illness. 然而，也许这正是能够成功解决燃眉之急的唯一出路，确保每个人都有纯净水喝，有充足的水源用以农业种植，以使人们免受各种与水相关的病症的困扰。

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F Fortunately -and unexpectedly - the demand for water is not rising as rapidly as some predicted. F 出人意料的是，人们对水的需求量所幸并没有像某些人预测的那样剧增。 As a result, the pressure to build new water infrastructures has diminished over the past two decades. 因此过去20 年中，建设新水利项目的压力也随之渐渐消退。 Although population, industrial output and economic productivity have continued to soar in developed nations, the rate at which people withdraw water from aquifers, rivers and lakes has slowed. 尽管在发达国家，人口仍然急剧膨胀，工业和经济依然高速发展，但人们开采地下水和地表水的速度却减缓了。 And in a few parts of the world, demand has actually fallen. 在全球某些地区，人们对水资源的需求量甚至下降了。

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G What explains this remarkable turn of events? G 这个显著的转变究竟该如何解释呢？ Two factors: people have figured out how to use water more efficiently, and communities are rethinking their priorities for water use. 我想大致有两个因素：其一，人们已经懂得如何更有效地利用水资源，社会各界也在重新思考各自用水的优先权。 Throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century, the quantity of freshwater consumed per person doubled on average; in the USA, water withdrawals increased tenfold while the population quadrupled. 在20 世纪的前75 年间，人均用水量增加了1 倍。在美国，人口增长了4 倍，而用水量竟翻了10 倍。 But since 1980, the amount of water consumed per person has actually decreased, thanks to a range of new technologies that help to conserve water in homes and industry 但自从1980 年以来，人均用水量下降了，这主要得益于一系列新技术在家庭及工业节水方面的作用。 In 1965, for instance, Japan used approximately 13 million gallons* of water to produce $1 million of commercial output; by 1989 this had dropped to 3.5 million gallons (even accounting for inflation) - almost a quadrupling of water productivity. 例如，在1965 年，日本要用1300 万加仑的水才能产出100 万美元的商业价值，而截至1989 年，即使算上通货膨胀，只用350 万加仑的水就足以产出相同的商业价值了，这几乎相当于原来产出的4倍。 In the USA, water withdrawals have fallen by more than 20 % from their peak in 1980. 在美国，水资源的使用量已经比20 世纪80 年代的顶峰时期下降了20%。

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H On the other hand, dams, aqueducts and other kinds of infrastructure will still have to be built, particularly in developing countries where basic human needs have not been met. H 另一方面，水库、引水渠及其他水利设施还是需要修建的，特别是在基本水资源仍不能保证供应的发展中国家。 But such projects must be built to higher specifications and with more accountability to local people and their environment than in the past. 但与过去相比，这些水利设施的建设一定要更加规范化，要对当地的人们做出更加细致的说明，同时还需要考虑环保的要求。 And even in regions where new projects seem warranted, we must find ways to meet demands with fewer resources, respecting ecological criteria and to a smaller budget. 即使既定地区水利工程建设似乎已经得到保证，我们也要想办法用较少的资源满足较多的需求，保护当地生态，并做到少花钱、多办事。