“Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” goes Samuel Coleridge’s poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

The English poem is about three sailors stuck at sea, who are all dying of thirst, but the only water they can find is the ocean’s plentiful and undrinkable salt water.

These sailors are not alone as people around the world are facing water shortages and often have little option other than to drink contaminated water, if it is available at all. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 1.8 billion people worldwide use water sources polluted with feces, which can lead to death due to water-borne diseases.

2015 marks the end of the International Decade of Action “Water for Life” campaign, a mission to teach communities around the world how to access fresh water and prevent contamination.

The United Nations (UN) -led program started in 2005 and has spawned a multitude of inquiries into the planet’s consumption and usage of water.

Strides have been made in managing water resources in the past decade; however, WHO estimates that in another 10 years, half the world’s population will be living in a water-stressed area, a term defined by the UN as having less than 1,700 cubic meters (approximately 446,000 gallons) of water available per person, every year.

This quantity, though it seems large, dissipates quickly in industrialized nations, where 1,847 gallons of water are used to process and prepare one pound of beef, according to The Huffington Post.

Water scarcity (approximately 264,172 gallons of available water per capita, per year) affects 700 million people in regions around the world — the southwestern U.S. being one of them.

“The severity of the drought requires us to start now,” Toni Atkins, a Californian state lawmaker, said. She was referring to putting a $1 billion spending package into action, which was approved by Gov. Edmund “Jerry” Brown last Friday.

Much of the funds are to improve the state’s infrastructure to relieve communities with dwindling water supplies, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Brown declared a state of emergency in January due to the drought.

“The state has continued to lead the way to make sure California is able to cope with an unprecedented drought,” the state’s website says.

Seven U.S. states that gather their water from Lake Mead are facing potential water rationing measures, which would be declared by the federal government if the reservoir drops 12 more feet, according to news source WRAL-TV.

Amber Phillips, the Las Vegas Sun’s correspondent for Washington, D.C., described the possible action as “the most severe drought-protection program the Southwest has ever seen.”

Water levels in Lake Mead over the past year have reached the lowest point since 1937, a period when the reservoir was still reaching maximum capacity after it was first operational in 1935, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Records.

The Environmental Protection Agency cites several factors are responsible for the drought in the Southwest, including decreases in both springtime precipitation and snowpack on the Rocky Mountains.

Global climate change is the root cause for water shortages, but it is not the only reason. The increasing population and depletion of aquifers are variables to consider as well.

“This could potentially lead to conflicts,” the EPA’s website states, referring to the increasing competition of water amongst states and tribes and potentially, the U.S. and Mexico.

The decreasing water level of the Dead Sea is also raising eyebrows. As Israel and Jordan gather increasing amounts of fresh water from the Jordan River, the major contributor to the sea, water levels continue to fall.

Bill Weir, a reporter for CNN, recently wrote an article suggesting decreasing water supplies around the Dead Sea could cause a regional conflict — a thought reminiscent of the Six Day War.

“If there is the slightest hope for a path to peace in the Middle East, it will probably have something to do with water,” Weir said.

By 2030, the population of Earth is estimated to have just 60 percent of the water it needs if major global polices are not changed, according to a U.N. analysis reported by Time magazine.

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