Water supplies will begin running out in critical regions where they support cities, industries and food production -- including in India, China and the Middle East -- by 2030 due to over-extraction of groundwater, a scientist has warned.

"The world has experienced a boom in groundwater use, more than doubling the rate of extraction between 1960 and 2000 -- with usage continuing to soar up to the present," says Craig Simmons, director of the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT).