Water security is one of the great challenges facing humanity today, with more than one third of the world’s population living in water-stressed areas. Difficult questions need to be addressed about how we manage and consume water - for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. With the United Nations predicting a world population in excess of 10 billion by 2100 and climate change potentially further threatening people's access to potable water, are we doing what is necessary to secure our water resources? There is immense expertise and knowledge in the science and engineering communities on how to make best use of the resources we have, from better storage and infrastructure, to drip irrigation, wastewater processing and efficient desalination. This potential water deficit is addressed by individual countries through engineering solutions and political/economical decisions and actions; though climate change makes such solutions challenging. So, what can we do to make sure that people have the water they need? What legacy do we want future generations to inherit in terms of water security? What are we doing right and what can we do better in order to manage this most essential of all resources?

Panellists:

*Tony Allan (University of London)
*Sonia Seneviratne (ETH Zurich)
*Wilco Hazeleger (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute)
*Henny van Lanen (Wageningen University)
*Carole Dalin (Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics)

Moderator: Caspar Hewett, Durham University & Director of The Great Debate