Washington, August 7 (RHC)-- Seventeen countries, representing around one-quarter of the world’s population, are at risk of running out of water, according to new data published by the World Resources Institute. 

The countries, which include India, Iran and Qatar, are facing “extremely high water stress,” meaning they are using up almost all of their water reserves.  Several U.S. cities and states, such as Los Angeles and New Mexico, are also considered to be under “extremely high water stress.”   The number of afflicted regions will continue to climb due to global heating. 

Based in Washington, DC, the World Resources Institute says: “Water stress is the biggest crisis no one is talking about.  Its consequences are in plain sight in the form of food insecurity, conflict and migration, and financial instability.”