Top Recommended Resources

United Nation Human Development Reports

• Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World , 2007/2008
• Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis , 2006

United Nations World Water Development Report 2006

The World’s Water 2008-2009 

From CSIS

• The World Is Dry
  An article by Erik R. Peterson, published in the Johns Hopkins University's SAISPHERE, 2008
• Global Water Futures: A Roadmap for Future U.S. Policy
  A report by Erik R. Peterson and Rachel Posner, 2008
• Water and Energy Futures in an Urbanized Asia: Sustaining the Tiger
  A monograph co-edited by Erik R. Peterson and Rachel Posner, 2007
• India: Running on Empty
  South Asia Monitor article from the CSIS South Asia Program, 2007
  
• Asia's Coming Water Wars
  A report by research associate Chietigj Bajpaee of the CSIS International Security Program, 2006
  
• Global Water Challenges and U.S. Foreign Policy: Taking Stock
  Future Watch article from CSIS Global Strategy Institute, 2006
  
• Addressing Our Global Water Future
  From the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Sandia National Laboratories, 2005
• U.S.-Mexico Binational Council Reports - U.S-Mexico Transboundary Water Management, The Case of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo
  From the CSIS Mexico Project, 2003

From the U.S. Government

• U.S. Agency for International Development
  USAID is the primary agency responsible for providing safe drinking water and sanitation services to the developing world.
• Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005: Reports to Congress
  Each year, the Department of State submits a report to Congress in compliance with the Water for the Poor Act detailing U.S. government activities and strategies for providing safe drinking water and sanitation to the developing world.
• Freshwater Programs: Federal Agencies' Funding in the United States and Abroad
  Report to Congressional Requesters from the United States Government Accountability Office, March 2005
• EPA - Water
  The EPA is concerned with public education, water monitoring and transboundary water issues. It engages in a wide variety of domestic activities related to water and pollution, and also works with other countries.

From International Organizations

UNDP

• Human Development Report 2007/2008: Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World
  
• Human Development Report 2006: Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis

UNESCO

• UNESCO World Water Assessment Program Website
  The World Water Assessment Program is part of a collective United Nations system-wide continuing assessment process of water-related issues.
• United Nations World Water Development Report
  Coordinated by WWAP, the WWDR is the result of collaboration between 24 UN agencies and convention secretariats. The Reports provide a mechanism for monitoring changes in the resource and its management and tracking progress towards achieving targets, particularly those of the Millennium Development Goals. This is the Third report.
• The 2nd UN World Water Development Report: Water, a Shared Responsibility, UNESCO
• The 1st UN World Water Development Report: Water for People, Water for Life, UNESCO

WHO/UNICEF

• WHO - Water, Sanitation and Health Website
  WHO works on aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene where the health burden is high, where interventions could make a major difference and where the present state of knowledge is poor.
• UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS), 2008
  GLAAS is a pilot initiative led by WHO that reports on progress made in the sanitization and drinking-water sectors.
  
• Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation, 2008
  Report from a joint WHO/UNICEF monitoring program for water supply and sanitation
• Climate Change and Children, 2007
  UNICEF report on the effects of climate change on children
• Progress for Children - a Report Card on Water and Sanitation
  September 2006 report from UNICEF
• Water for Life - Making It Happen, WHO/UNICEF
  Joint report from WHO and UNICEF on the Decade for Action: 2005-2015
• Meeting the MDG Drinking Water and Sanitation Target: A Mid-Term Assessment of Progress, UNICEF/WHO 2005
  A report outlining the current state of water and sanitation in the world.

UNEP

• Half Full or Half Empty: A Set of Indicative Guidelines for Water-related Risks and an Overview of Emerging Opportunities for Financial Institutions, 2007
  A report by the UN Environment Program’s Finance Initiative on the economic value of water
• Challenges of Water Scarcity: A Business Case for Financial Institutions
  A report from the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative, 2005
• Vital Water Graphics Website
  An overview of the state of the world's fresh and marine water with many high quality illustrations.

Millennium Development Goals

• Millennium Development Goals Report, 2008
  UN assessment of progress to date on a number of issues, including access to clean drinking water and sanitation.
• Water and Sanitation for the Urban poor (WSUP)
  WSUP's mission is to advance the Millennium Development Goals for water, sanitation, and associated health benefits through multi-sector, stakeholder partnerships delivering sustainable, equitable, and affordable water and sanitation services to the urban poor in developing countries.
• UN Millennium Project Report On Water and Sanitation: Health, Dignity and Development: What Will it Take?
  UN report on the global water crisis and a set of proposals to tackle it
  

World Bank

• The World Bank's New Water Web
  A new portal for all water-related programs at the World Bank. Country-specific data and statistics are available as well as key publications and other resources.
• Water and Sanitation Program
  An international partnership to help the poor gain sustained access to improved water supply and sanitation services, run through the World Bank.
• Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Southeast Asia, 2008
  A Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) report on the impacts of poor sanitation on Southeast Asia
• Making the Most of Scarcity: Accountability for Better Water Management Results in the Middle East and North Africa
  World Bank report on water management in the Middle East and North Africa
  
• Benchmarking Performance: Urban Water Sector in South Asia
  May 2006 report from the Water and Sanitation Program

Independent Research Organizations

The World Water Council

• Final Reportof the 4th World Water Forum
  The theme for the Fourth World Water Forum, hosted by Mexico City in 2006, was "Local Actions for Global Change."
• Financing Water for All
  Report of the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure, 2003, chaired by Michael Camdessus.

The Pacific Institute

• The Pacific Institute is an independent, non-profit organization that conducts research and policy analysis in the areas of environment, sustainable development, and international security. The Institute also maintains the Water and Climate Bibliography, a comprehensive database of scientific literature pertaining to climate change and freshwater resources worldwide.
• The World's Water 2006-2007
  The fifth volume in the series from the Pacific Institute, this volume provides information on trends and events, as well as up-to-date data on water resources and their use.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

• Navigating Peace: Water can be a pathway to peace, not war

The Aspen Institute

• A Silent Tsunami: The Urgent Need for Clean Water and Sanitation
  This report provides a series of recommendations on international water challenges for governments, businesses, and other organizations.

Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

• Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council Website
  The WSSCC seeks to accelerate the achievement of sustainable sanitation, hygiene and water services to all people, with special attention to the unserved poor, by enhancing collaboration and coordination of all sector stakeholders, nationally and internationally.
• For Her it's the Big Picture - Putting Women at the center of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene
  A joint undertaking by the WSSCC and the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) to collect and analyze noteworthy examples that demonstrate the widespread impacts of women's contributions to WASH activities.

Oregon State University

• Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database
  To aid in the assessment of the process of water conflict prevention and resolution, over the years they have developed this database and broader project exploring the intersections of water and conflict.

Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)

• Stockholm International Water Institute
  SIWI is a policy institute that contributes to international efforts to find solutions to the world's escalating water crisis. SIWI hosts a World Water Week conference in Stockholm every year.
  

Humanitarian Aid Programs

• Global Water Challenge
  The GWC, launched by a diverse coalition of corporations, foundations, and aid organizations, is an initiative to save lives and reduce suffering in the developing world by providing safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education to people who lack these basic services.
• Global Water
  Global Water is an international non-profit, non-sectarian, and non-governmental humanitarian organization committed to the development of safe water-related projects around the world.
• WaterAid
  WaterAid is an international NGO dedicated to providing safe water, sanitation and hygiene education.
• Water for People
  Water for People is an international nonprofit development organization committed to the long-term impact of increased access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation and health. See the Special Report 2007-2008 

Networks

• WaterWeb.org
  WaterWeb is a consortium that has been created to promote the sharing of information concerning water and the earth's environment. The organization seeks to create a global community, bringing together educational, governmental, nonprofit, & commercial entities interested in water research, conservation, and management.
• International Water Association
  IWA is a global network of water professionals, spanning the continuum between research and practice, and covering all facets of the water cycle.
• Global Water Research Coalition
  GWRC is a non-profit organization that serves as a collaborative mechanism for water research.
• Global Water Partnership
  The Global Water Partnership is a working partnership among all those involved in water management. It identifies knowledge needs at global, regional and national levels and helps design programs for meeting these needs, and serves as a mechanism for alliance building and information exchange on integrated water resources management.