Water Science Opinion Survey:
What will be the world's biggest
water problem in the future
This table is a summary of all the responses to the questionnaire, by state for the U.S., and worldwide by continent/area. As of today there have been 115,010 responses to this questionnaire.
| State | We will not have enough water | Water will be too polluted | Drinking water will be unsafe | Water systems will break down | There won't be major water problems | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 243 (42%) | 134 (23%) | 77 (13%) | 35 (6%) | 87 (15%) | 576 |
| Alabama | 952 (29%) | 1,211 (36%) | 427 (13%) | 194 (6%) | 541 (16%) | 3,325 |
| Arkansas | 187 (27%) | 254 (37%) | 103 (15%) | 62 (9%) | 83 (12%) | 689 |
| Arizona | 980 (50%) | 468 (24%) | 255 (13%) | 116 (6%) | 149 (8%) | 1,968 |
| California | 3,125 (44%) | 2,259 (32%) | 794 (11%) | 478 (7%) | 420 (6%) | 7,076 |
| Colorado | 1,497 (33%) | 1,284 (28%) | 503 (11%) | 182 (4%) | 1,126 (25%) | 4,592 |
| Connecticut | 552 (24%) | 1,097 (48%) | 366 (16%) | 117 (5%) | 149 (7%) | 2,281 |
| D. C. | 55 (34%) | 54 (34%) | 22 (14%) | 15 (9%) | 15 (9%) | 161 |
| Delaware | 71 (7%) | 96 (9%) | 765 (71%) | 128 (12%) | 16 (1%) | 1,076 |
| Florida | 1,201 (29%) | 1,847 (45%) | 611 (15%) | 222 (5%) | 263 (6%) | 4,144 |
| Georgia | 1,298 (27%) | 2,025 (43%) | 711 (15%) | 303 (6%) | 385 (8%) | 4,722 |
| Hawaii | 208 (43%) | 146 (30%) | 60 (12%) | 27 (6%) | 45 (9%) | 486 |
| Iowa | 268 (20%) | 576 (42%) | 198 (15%) | 74 (5%) | 248 (18%) | 1,364 |
| Idaho | 418 (26%) | 732 (46%) | 228 (14%) | 92 (6%) | 133 (8%) | 1,603 |
| Illinois | 767 (27%) | 1,230 (43%) | 374 (13%) | 186 (7%) | 302 (11%) | 2,859 |
| Indiana | 462 (25%) | 798 (43%) | 276 (15%) | 124 (7%) | 180 (10%) | 1,840 |
| Kansas | 243 (30%) | 322 (40%) | 117 (15%) | 65 (8%) | 55 (7%) | 802 |
| Kentucky | 195 (18%) | 508 (48%) | 153 (14%) | 77 (7%) | 133 (12%) | 1,066 |
| Louisiana | 225 (22%) | 442 (44%) | 179 (18%) | 50 (5%) | 120 (12%) | 1,016 |
| Massachusetts | 544 (27%) | 847 (42%) | 316 (16%) | 156 (8%) | 167 (8%) | 2,030 |
| Maryland | 375 (29%) | 540 (42%) | 184 (14%) | 113 (9%) | 85 (7%) | 1,297 |
| Maine | 149 (21%) | 334 (47%) | 88 (12%) | 47 (7%) | 88 (12%) | 706 |
| Michigan | 1,656 (22%) | 3,355 (44%) | 1,464 (19%) | 428 (6%) | 675 (9%) | 7,578 |
| Minnesota | 531 (21%) | 1,283 (50%) | 398 (15%) | 124 (5%) | 245 (9%) | 2,581 |
| Missouri | 200 (26%) | 324 (42%) | 118 (15%) | 55 (7%) | 75 (10%) | 772 |
| Mississippi | 105 (21%) | 216 (44%) | 73 (15%) | 41 (8%) | 57 (12%) | 492 |
| Montana | 75 (23%) | 120 (36%) | 51 (16%) | 19 (6%) | 64 (19%) | 329 |
| North Carolina | 1,332 (26%) | 2,426 (47%) | 820 (16%) | 257 (5%) | 333 (6%) | 5,168 |
| North Dakota | 59 (25%) | 85 (37%) | 30 (13%) | 17 (7%) | 41 (18%) | 232 |
| Nebraska | 179 (32%) | 184 (33%) | 115 (21%) | 33 (6%) | 48 (9%) | 559 |
| New Hampshire | 121 (26%) | 170 (37%) | 74 (16%) | 18 (4%) | 74 (16%) | 457 |
| New Jersey | 635 (24%) | 1,286 (48%) | 393 (15%) | 191 (7%) | 157 (6%) | 2,662 |
| New Mexico | 328 (50%) | 171 (26%) | 72 (11%) | 36 (5%) | 53 (8%) | 660 |
| Nevada | 415 (43%) | 311 (32%) | 83 (9%) | 100 (10%) | 63 (6%) | 972 |
| New York | 602 (25%) | 1,098 (45%) | 360 (15%) | 186 (8%) | 204 (8%) | 2,450 |
| Ohio | 837 (20%) | 2,043 (49%) | 635 (15%) | 244 (6%) | 371 (9%) | 4,130 |
| Oklahoma | 210 (22%) | 326 (35%) | 137 (15%) | 113 (12%) | 149 (16%) | 935 |
| Oregon | 806 (57%) | 285 (20%) | 115 (8%) | 64 (5%) | 144 (10%) | 1,414 |
| Pennsylvania | 988 (24%) | 1,776 (44%) | 680 (17%) | 282 (7%) | 353 (9%) | 4,079 |
| Puerto Rico/V.I. | 63 (18%) | 75 (22%) | 20 (6%) | 19 (6%) | 166 (48%) | 343 |
| Rhode Island | 85 (34%) | 81 (33%) | 33 (13%) | 25 (10%) | 23 (9%) | 247 |
| South Carolina | 191 (16%) | 600 (50%) | 228 (19%) | 100 (8%) | 92 (8%) | 1,211 |
| South Dakota | 167 (22%) | 331 (44%) | 110 (15%) | 46 (6%) | 92 (12%) | 746 |
| Tennessee | 156 (21%) | 332 (44%) | 117 (16%) | 53 (7%) | 93 (12%) | 751 |
| Texas | 1,457 (30%) | 1,977 (41%) | 563 (12%) | 308 (6%) | 489 (10%) | 4,794 |
| Utah | 839 (57%) | 351 (24%) | 124 (8%) | 40 (3%) | 126 (9%) | 1,480 |
| Virginia | 1,142 (22%) | 2,657 (50%) | 772 (15%) | 291 (5%) | 436 (8%) | 5,298 |
| Vermont | 65 (15%) | 272 (62%) | 32 (7%) | 22 (5%) | 45 (10%) | 436 |
| Washington | 546 (30%) | 732 (41%) | 227 (13%) | 123 (7%) | 167 (9%) | 1,795 |
| Wisconsin | 551 (26%) | 744 (35%) | 314 (15%) | 124 (6%) | 376 (18%) | 2,109 |
| West Virginia | 278 (28%) | 409 (41%) | 171 (17%) | 37 (4%) | 91 (9%) | 986 |
| Wyoming | 97 (20%) | 63 (13%) | 234 (49%) | 39 (8%) | 48 (10%) | 481 |
| Total | 28,731 (28%) | 41,287 (41%) | 15,370 (15%) | 6,298 (6%) | 10,140 (10%) | 101,826 |
| Continent/area | We will not have enough water | Water will be too polluted | Drinking water will be unsafe | Water systems will break down | There won't be major water problems | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 154 (36%) | 103 (24%) | 48 (11%) | 57 (13%) | 64 (15%) | 426 |
| Asia | 677 (34%) | 716 (36%) | 254 (13%) | 174 (9%) | 170 (9%) | 1,991 |
| Australia/N.Z./P | 3,174 (82%) | 359 (9%) | 131 (3%) | 79 (2%) | 130 (3%) | 3,873 |
| Canada | 1,097 (33%) | 1,146 (35%) | 462 (14%) | 119 (4%) | 473 (14%) | 3,297 |
| Central America | 130 (33%) | 140 (36%) | 35 (9%) | 19 (5%) | 69 (18%) | 393 |
| South America | 661 (40%) | 506 (31%) | 247 (15%) | 97 (6%) | 126 (8%) | 1,637 |
| Europe | 89 (24%) | 71 (19%) | 52 (14%) | 84 (22%) | 79 (21%) | 375 |
| Far East | 331 (57%) | 125 (21%) | 60 (10%) | 18 (3%) | 48 (8%) | 582 |
| Middle East | 237 (39%) | 141 (23%) | 116 (19%) | 41 (7%) | 75 (12%) | 610 |
| Total | 6,550 (50%) | 3,307 (25%) | 1,405 (11%) | 688 (5%) | 1,234 (9%) | 13,184 |
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