The world’s rivers are in greater danger than previously assumed, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Wisconsin researcher.

Peter B. McIntyre, a senior author of the new study and UW professor of zoology, said this study was distinguished from the other studies done on water pollution because “this study gives us a unified analysis that tells us the whole story, in terms of bringing together all the different kinds of data.”

The study, released Sept. 29, said although water is “the most essential of natural resources” it is threatened most by humans through interventions such as dams.

The study pointed out that nearly 80 percent of the world’s population relies on water sources that are compromised by human intervention, like pollution and agricultural runoff.

The best way to ensure the success of water management is to balance human resource use with ecosystem protection, the survey said.

McIntyre said the biggest challenge to meeting this balance is whether or not the country is industrialized or developing.

According to McIntyre, the industrialized world has a legacy of using engineering prowess to solve natural problems.

“It’s not solving the underlying problem,” he said. “Rather than working within the parameters of the natural ecosystem, we have used our engineering know-how to fix ever greater problems.”

New problems such as water pollution and water shortages simply encourage the usage of higher technology and engineering, McIntyre said, but the technology and engineering mask the problem, they do not fix it.

“We’re giving the illusion to the public that we’re solving this water problem. But there’s no perception at all that there’s any risk to our water supply,” McIntyre said.

The irony, McIntyre said, is that we keep abusing the ecosystem yet we perceive things are actually getting better because we still manage to maintain the appearance of high water security due to huge economic investments.

“Put these things together, and it’s a potential recipe for disaster if we don’t get our house in order as soon as possible,” he added.

The study also focuses on the implications of freshwater pollution on our society and what we can do to reverse it.

The report was authored by an international coalition of scientists led by McIntyre and Charles J. V?r?smarty, an expert on global water resources from the City University of New York.

The study originated in February 2008 when the first worldwide study on marine ecosystems was released. It incorporated multiple topics on ocean ecology, McIntyre said

At about the same time a group of scientists, including McIntyre and V?r?smarty, convened in Seattle and started the idea to write a comparable study on freshwater ecosystems.

The biggest obstacle to the study was looking at the multiple factors including water quality, water resource development, the use of water in industrialized countries and biodiversity threats among others, McIntyre said.

“The problem with analyzing factors one at a time was that we hardly ever had a study that told us the big picture,” McIntyre said.

Despite these challenges, McIntyre said the study was unique because it focused on multiple issues rather than one.