The world’s water experts spent much of 1999 massaging data, running models, convening consultative meetings and drafting reports in preparation for the Second World Water Forum in The Hague in March 2000. A great deal of the discussion revolved around the development of projected needs in three important water resources subsectors – water supply and sanitation, food production and nature conservation. Global and regional discussions attempted to sort out how much water would be needed in each subsector to meet growing demands by the year 2025. The people involved in formulating projections of water needs for food production relied on the use of fairly robust data sets and sophisticated models to reach their compelling conclusion. They estimated that a 17 percent increase in water consumed by irrigated agriculture would be necessary to provide for the nutritional needs of a world population likely to rise to somewhere between 7 and 11 billion by the year 2025. The chief spokesman for this subsector made an impressive presentation, replete with charts and graphs. He then turned to the nature conservation people and asked them exactly how much water the world would have to reserve "for nature". The nature conservation people looked rather alarmed at the philosophical gulf that yawned between the two subsectors. "Nature is not a competitor for water," came the response. "Nature is the source of water."