Where National Geographic really stands out is in its photos. Remember that Afghan girl shot? I've seen it a million times, but it never fails to get me every single time. There were some interesting articles in this special issue on water, but it's the pictures that really stood out, so I'm reproducing some of them here. Hope I'm not infringing any copyright issues!
Part 1: Extreme Water Scarcity
Water scarcity is not something many people in the developed world understand. Most of the solutions that are being developed will be effective in rich nations, but despite lower costs than before, they are nowhere near the prices that the poor can afford.
But how do we convince rich countries to work on technologies that will actually solve problems for the poor? There are no completely altruistic countries. NGOs and IOs need to understand this when campaigning politicians and governments for money. It is no use showing pictures and videos of lots of poor people dying from thirst unless they are from the politicians' own electorate. Politicians are only mandated to save their own people, not the world. And unless they can see some benefit to their own people -- present or future -- from helping these poor countries, you really can't blame them for trying to be half responsible towards tax payers' money.
Don't get me wrong, though, I do feel strongly that we should help the poor in whatever personal capacity we can. And such reminders are a sobering alarm that water scarcity is a real issue. It is something I tend to forget, living in a developed country, where an efficient public service sometimes makes water scarcity feel like a mere government construct. Anyway, on to the pictures...
The picture on the right is a scene in a Northern Kenyan village. This is a water tank that is re-filled weekly by a government truck. Although it was just filled a day ago, so much water has been withdrawn that the water level is below the level of the tap. The villagers are now trying to get whatever little water there is left. 
This picture shows some women and children from Foro, Ethiopia, carrying water home. Everyday, they travel 50 minutes down this steep slope to get to a polluted, almost-dry river, to get water. Each jerry can holds between 10 and 20 litres of water. To get enough water for the whole family, several trips must be made to the river each day. Everyday, more than 8 hours of a woman's day are spent collecting water. 
During the dry season, this is all the water that Ethiopian women can get from the Arayo River. Although the water is not safe for drinking, they have no choice. Main source:
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