World Water Day

The U.N. designates March 22 as the day of the year when we spotlight the global safe water and sanitation issue and the collective efforts underway to get solutions to those struggling and in need.

The Great Lakes contain 20% of the fresh surface water

in the WORLD.

The Great Lakes contain 90% of the fresh surface water

in the U.S.

We are blessed with this natural source of fresh water in the Midwest and over 40 million people get their drinking water from the Great Lakes. There are many areas on the planet, though, where people struggle to find clean drinking water and where proper sanitation is non-existent.

What can we do?

...from the "About Water Day" website:

"Scale up the solutions that are already working. US support for water and sanitation has produced demonstrable results in thousands of communities around the world. Solutions include digging wells and boreholes, harvesting rainwater, protecting springs, water filtering and purification, and building safe and affordable latrines. Sustainability is key: programs must be implemented in a fashion that is sustainable on a local level, in technical, financial, social, and environmental terms. Integrating simple and cost-effective water and sanitation solutions into child survival, health, and nutrition programs can dramatically decrease both child mortality and long-term developmental problems caused by the most common child killers - diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition.

Encourage decision makers to target US funding to the countries and communities most in need of first-time access. The US government must ensure the funding it provides for international water and sanitation programs benefits the people who need it most. Most of those living without safe drinking water and improved sanitation are poor people in impoverished countries. Helping to provide first-time access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation in those communities will also ensure progress toward other related goals: improved health, poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability, and increased educational opportunities."

I live in Michigan.

We are a peninsular people, surrounded by water.

We take fresh water for granted, but there are so many in our world who do not have fresh drinking water.

Fresh water is essential for life.