UN head says survival depends on how people manage water

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press

United Nations (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says humanity’s survival depends on how people manage water. He was speaking Friday at the end of a three-day conference on global water resources during which developing nations made urgent calls for help with cleaner drinking water and better sanitation. Guterres said: “All of humanity’s hopes for the future depend, in some way, on charting a new course to sustainably manage and conserve water.” This includes rational use of water for agriculture and more aggressive action again climate change. Water, Guterres said, “needs to be at the center of the global political agenda.”