There seems to be little doubt that

There seems to be little doubt that science and technology must play a vital role in devising the solutions that will be necessary to overcome the daunting problems arising from global water scarcity. This article summarizes the presentations of 16 internationally renowned water experts and the associated discussions that constituted the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium entitled The Role of Science in Solving the Earth's Emerging Water Problems. The Colloquium was held on October 8–10, 2004, at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering in Irvine, CA. It attracted an audience of ≈100 that participated in wide-ranging discussions. The names of the water experts and the titles of their presentations are included on the NAS web site at www.nasonline.org/water. In addition, many of the presentations may be viewed online at the NAS web site.
In the next section of the article, present and future global water problems are characterized. Prospects for finding science-based solutions to these problems are discussed in the following section, and a third and concluding section offers some findings and recommendations about the role of science in addressing the world's water problems.