A conference of 500 leading water scientists from around the world issued the stark warning this week that, without major reforms, "in the short span of one or two generations, the majority of the 9 billion people on Earth will be living under the handicap of severe pressure on fresh water". The scientists, gathered in the German city of Bonn, said in a joint statement "Water [is] an absolutely essential natural resource for which there is no substitute. This handicap will be self-inflicted and is, we believe, entirely avoidable."

Lamenting the mismanagement and missed opportunities of water policy around the world, the experts produced a range of policy recommendations for decision makers and made a joint declaration on the last day of the conference.

The four-day meeting, Water in the Anthropocene (the informal name for the current phase of the Earth's existence, in which changes are primarily driven by human actions), was organised by the Global Water System Project, a UN initiative that has worked on sustainable water issues since 2004.

Humans are understood to be driving a retreat of the Earth's glaciers, a major geologic event last seen 11,500 years ago, as well as presiding over what some eminent scientists have called the sixth mass extinction; an event which will have massive impacts on the world we inhabit. The scientists meeting in Bonn discussed the dangers these events present, as well as suggesting means of mitigating the worst ravages on the global water system and adapting to the new reality of increased water scarcity.

"The list of human activities and their impact on the water systems of Planet Earth is long and important," Anik Bhaduri, Executive Officer of the GWSP said ahead of the conference.

"We have altered the Earth's climatology and chemistry, its snow cover, permafrost, sea and glacial ice extent and ocean volume—all fundamental elements of the hydrological cycle. We have accelerated major processes like erosion, applied massive quantities of nitrogen that leaks from soil to ground and surface waters and, sometimes, literally siphoned all water from rivers, emptying them for human uses before they reach the ocean. We have diverted vast amounts of freshwater to harness fossil energy, dammed major waterways, and destroyed aquatic ecosystems," Dr Bhaduri continued.

"The idea of the Anthropocene underscores the point that human activities and their impacts have global significance for the future of all living species - ours included. Humans are changing the character of the world water system in significant ways with inadequate knowledge of the system and the consequences of changes being imposed."

Amongst the areas for action discussed by the researchers was agriculture; humanity uses an area the size of South America to grow its crops and an area the size of Africa for raising livestock. Furthermore, industrial and agricultural activity is having major impacts in exacerbating flooding and hampering other vital natural processes that benefit us as humans (destruction of forests, upland habitats and wetlands all contribute to this bleak reality). Forthcoming development goals are likely to feature water guidelines for agriculture (alongside municipal and ecosystem considerations).

GWSP co-chair Claudia Pahl-Wostl warned that, historically, attitudes to water have been characterised by short-termism and a lack of holistic perspective. She said that, as a result, "governance failure and a lack of systemic thinking in both developed and developing countries [may] lead to greater water insecurity in the long-term." DR Pahl-Wostl stated that "Global leadership is required to deal with the water challenges of the 21st century."

Joe Alcamo, Chief Scientist of the UN Environment Programme and former co-chair of the GWSP added, "By diverting freshwater for agricultural, industrial and municipal use, for example, our coastal wetlands receive less and less, and often polluted, freshwater. The results include decreased inland and coastal biodiversity, increased coastal salinity and temperature, and contaminated agricultural soils and agricultural runoff." Alcamo and his GWSP colleagues said water policies have too often dealt with the "symptoms of environmental abuse rather than underlying causes."

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At the Water in the Anthropocene event, experts attempted to unify their research achievements and present a common vision for the Earth's water future. The next major event to deal with the problems facing the planet's water will be the Budapest Water Summit in October, which will map the water aspects of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals - a set of globally-agreed future objectives which will succeed the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

The scientists in Bonn called for the production of standards governing water quality and quantity to prevent over-use. They said accurate estimates of how much water can be drawn without crossing a "tipping point" threshold, resulting in ecosystem collapse, are missing in many areas. While there is no general rule, GWSP scientists said withdrawals of 30 to 40 percent of a renewable freshwater resource constitutes "extreme" water stress.

In Bonn, experts agreed that clearly defined targets must be drawn up to ensure moves towards 'water security' represent genuine progress. The GWSP scientists added that these goals must take more than just human drinking and sanitation needs into account, as has previously been the case, and focus on ecosystem health to ensure the long-term sustainable management of water.

In the Bonn Declaration, issued on Monday, the eminent scientists said, "Water scientists are more than ever convinced that fresh water systems across the planet are in a precarious state… Additional deterioration through pollution, now detectable on a global scale, further limits an already-stressed resource base, and negatively affects the health of aquatic life forms and human beings."

They called for support for ongoing research into the complex water system on an international scale. Although they said that it is not known precisely when water mismanagement will result in catastrophe, the scientists said that knowledge is sufficient to drive policy changes and reiterated that action on the water issue is absolutely imperative.

The core recommendations issued by the scientists are:

1) Commit to improving understanding of the global water system, through supporting water science.

2) Conduct cutting-edge into fresh water to inform risk assessments; use the results of these assessments to develop strategies to better promote the protection of water systems.

3) Train the next generation of water scientists and practitioners in global change research and management.

4) Expand monitoring, through traditional land-based environmental observation networks and state-of-the-art earth-observation satellite systems, to provide detailed observations of water system state.

5) Consider ecosystem-based alternatives to costly 'structural' solutions for climate proofing; improve 'green infrastructure' over traditional, invasive infrastructure.

6) Improve the governance of water systems – increasing equity and expanding value systems; a failure to adopt a more inclusive approach will make it impossible to design effective green growth strategies or policies.