Unlimited Water Supply?

Unlimited Water?

Fresh water, in 2011 those words can mean so many different things to people. If you are fortunate enough to live in a developed country fresh water is probably something that at best is expected, at worst it is viewed as a resource with unlimited ends. If you are farmer, water is connected to your very lively hood. If you live in a third world or even developing country a sufficient supply of fresh water may be something that seems like a dream. Like it or not water, and more importantly fresh water is something that impacts every single person on earth. As the world population continues to stretch the carrying capacity of earth’s resources the dilemma of water is at the forefront of global environmental issues.

Approximately 2.5% of water found on earth is considered fresh water. (Textbook pg 255). Out of that most is found in glaciers, underground aquifers, as well as the polar ice caps. In all reality less than 1 part in 10,000 of earth’s water is accessible for consumption and use. This graph from the USGS’s web site puts in perspective how little usable water there is on earth:

If the supply of fresh usable water is relatively small as portrayed in the above graph, it would make sense that countries and nations would be united in finding ways to preserve water supplies and to reduce the consumption. Earths water is distributed unevenly and thus there are vast parts of earth that have little usable water available. Many of these area are found in developing countries with many environmental challenges, unfortunately while many governments and conservation groups as well as scientists are sounding the alarm about water consumption, developing and economically poor countries face fresh water shortages//scarcity that pose a major environmental threat to the people who populate those impoverished nations. This map from the Global Resources Institute shows counties and regions that are facing fresh water shortages...