Though the story is based on one report, there were 24 U.N. agencies who are credited with compiling it, and I would expect there was a review process. The statistics and information is key to people recognizing and dealing with the crisis, including the population crisis.

Solid summary of United Nations report, "Water in a Changing World," published before the fifth World Water Forum, to be held March 16--22 in Istanbul. The outlook is grim, pointing to increasing threats to the world's water supply and predicting political insecurity to come with future shortages. Key human-generated factors discussed include: demographic growth; extraction from rivers, lakes, and aquifers; environmental degradation from water pollution.

This synopsis of a UN report relies on a single source, the report itself.