The British
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has released a
Water Poverty Index in which
water efficiency was classified together with
drinking water,
water resources, the country's
ability to buy water, and the
environmental impact of water policies, to produce a complete "
water poverty index."
The index was compiled to "demonstrate that it is
not the amount of water resources available that determine poverty levels in a country, but the
effectiveness of how you use those resources", explained Caroline Sullivan, leader of the team that compiled it.
In
summary the
US, with 23,000 golf courses (frequently located in "water-stressed" portions of the country), was judged to be the most wasteful water user...
Haiti came bottom overall due to land clearance policies that have devastated their water infrastructure... whilst
Finland, Canada + Iceland were judged to be the wisest users of their water resources.