Water Runs Everything
This blog is written by LWVDC’s Climate Team.
A group of third grade students walked from Madison’s Lincoln School to a city well on Park Street Wednesday, October 23. They carried jars and jugs of water—53 gallons of water to be exact—the amount of water a single person in Madison uses per day, according to city officials.
Photo credit: Amauri Acosta Montiel on Unsplash
The group marched in support of Imagine a Day without Water, a 5-year-old effort led by the national nonprofit organization, U.S. Water Alliance. Madison students and teachers participated for the first time in this “Water Walk” to remind people that water and the infrastructure we depend upon to supply it is valuable and vulnerable.
We rely upon readily available clean water to make coffee, shower, flush the toilet and do laundry. Hospitals, firefighters, farmers and manufacturers know water is essential, but when any resource is undervalued and readily available it is easily taken for granted, as depicted in the U.S. Water Alliance video.
Photo credit: Jeff Ackley on Unsplash
In communities worldwide without access to safe, convenient water infrastructure, it is typically the women and children who spend hours every day collecting water instead of attending school, caring for family members or holding a paying job. More information about the global water crisis is available here.
Long-established regional precipitation patterns are now shifting due to climate change. These shifts in turn affect water supplies. In many regions, excessive runoff, flooding and sea-level rise will reduce water quality and damage infrastructures that sanitize, transport and deliver water. Growing communities, sensitive ecosystems, farms, ranches, energy producers and manufacturers are already clashing over water, challenging water managers.
According to The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), corporations are responsible for 20 percent of global water use and some industries from high-income countries consume 40–59 percent. And as low-income countries industrialize, they will add to water consumption tallies.
Governments are part of the solution to our looming water problems. But we as individuals must also do our part to conserve and protect our water. Check out this water calculator to estimate your water use and to find out how you can reduce your water footprint.
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