Water flows freely when we turn on the tap. Swimming pools and fountains abound. When it gets hot in the city, residents uncap fire hydrants to cool down the streets. Water is everywhere, so we take it for granted and don't give it much thought.

We should think about water more often, because there isn't really as much "usable" water available as it may seem. Even though water is all around us, Clean, Fresh Water accounts for a tiny fraction of the planet's total water supply.

More than oil, technology, or even money, the availability of water is the key to quality of life for millions of people. Next to oxygen, water is probably the planet's most important resource!

The Quantity
of water on Earth today is the same as it was millions of years ago: there is no more and no less. That's because water is continually recycled in a process known as the Water Cycle.

The Quality
of the water that is available, on the other hand, has drastically changed. As the earth's population has grown, so has the amount of Water Used by people for so many things. Every time we use water, we affect it in some way.

Water Travels
according to the law of gravity, downhill or downstream. Every stream or creek begins somewhere and connects to other streams; several streams join to form rivers; rivers flow into oceans and lakes. Every body of water has a Watershed and every watershed is affected by what takes place on its land.

You Can
make a difference in ways you'd never believe. As Ralph Nader said at the peak of his environmental advocacy days, "If twenty million people say I'm only one person, what can I do? and each of them does nothing, those twenty million people become part of the problem instead of part of the cure..." Check out Things You Can do.

You Can Make a Difference in Your Watershed
By Getting Involved!