Nothing better illustrates the emergence of fresh water as a key determinant of Asia's future than the current record drought that has parched lands from Southeast Asia to the Indian subcontinent, withering vast swaths of rice paddies and other crops and affecting economic activity, including electricity generation at a time when power demand has peaked. Millions of people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar and more than a quarter of India's population are reeling from the searing drought, precipitated by El Nino, the extra-heat-yielding climate pattern.

Asia's water challenges are underscored by the fact that it has less fresh water per person than any other continent and some of the world's worst water pollution.

A recent MIT study has warned that Asia's water crisis could worsen by 2050 to water scarcity across a wide swath of the continent. And an earlier global study commissioned by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs found that drought risks are the highest in Asia in terms of the number of people exposed.