You are 67% water!
Beware of scarcity, pollution, and high costs!
Learn to protect your water supply!
International Year of Fresh Water 2003

Diminishing access to fresh water: Only 2.5% of waters is fresh and 2/3 of that islocked in ice or snow. Only .26% of the total is in lakes & rivers, and only a thirdof that is available to us. We are polluting lakes and rivers and taking water from aquifers faster than nature replaces it. Water tables are dropping around the world. Near coasts, where most people live, seawater seeps into land as a result, polluting agricultural land and water supplies (Florida). DeVilliers M. 2001. Water. Mariner Books.

UN Report on Fresh Water: World Water Assessment Programme: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/water/WWDR-english-129556e.pdf

Bottled water is 240-10,000 times as expensive as tap water but often comes from the  same source.. Bottled water is subject to fewer safety regulations than tap water. Advertising promotes the fast growing demand. Filling those bottles helps deplete underground aquifers and the plastic from the bottles is a source of pollution. Investigate the facts of bottled water.     NRDC: Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?: http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp

Commercialization of your water supply!: 85%  (60,000) US water companies are public which by law must provide information on water quality, costs, bidding, etc...  Private companies are not required to provide this information. Private companies are seeking to gain control of public water supplies, though they still want access to public subsidies to enhance their profits.      Water for all: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/

Losing control over your local water to global institutions! Making water and waterservices tradable according to the rules of the WTO, World Bank, IMF and NAFTA can result in local companies losing control over their water supply. Water can be exported even though wells run dry. The World Bank and IMF often require privatization of water supplies as a condition of receiving loans Reversing failed privatizations can require onerous payments to the private companies. Blue Gold - The Global Water Crisis - By: Maude Barlow: http://www.saveourgroundwater.org/docs/blue_gold.pdf

Diversions of Rivers and Dams have produced unexpected costs and fewer benefits than planned. A broader approach to solving our water, flooding and irrigation problems is being recommended.  The World Commission on Dams: http://www.dams.org/

            Activists and the UN seek to make access to water a human right and institute changes to preserve our water supply.   UN Consecrates Water As Public Good, Human Right: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1128-01.htm

HAVE FUN! Join with friends to learn to understand and address these problems. Investigate using websites above and more  information on page 2!Express yourself! Write poems and songs, paint, have pot lucks, reading groupsBe Proactive: Ask local officials to sign a pledge to protect public water infrastructure Conserve water in your own life and influence your friends and employers to do so.

         Water Facts: EPA http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/kids/trivia.pdf