Our Freshwater supply
Water is vital to every living creature on earth. Even though we are the blue planet, our fresh water supply on earth is fixed. The earth is a closed system, which means that the same water that existed on Earth millions of years ago is still here. Water exists in many forms on earth, and is continually cycling through these different forms: oceans, glaciers, ground water, clouds, lakes and rivers to name a few.
What most people don't realize is how little of this water is actually usable freshwater. Of all the earth's water, 97% of it is ocean salt water and less than 3% of it is fresh water. Of this small amount of freshwater, 68.7% of it is frozen up in ice caps and glaciers, 30.1% of it is ground water and only 0.3% of it is surface water, which includes lakes and streams. The remaining 0.9% is water in other forms.
Water supply and water use can be
a contentious subject. It most
certainly will only get more contentious in the future.
As the earth's population increases our water use increases, and the
pristine water reserves get used.
About 74% of the freshwater used in the
We can
all learn to use our freshwater resources more wisely, and that starts with our
water use at home. Here are a few
relatively easy ideas to implement at home to conserve water.
You can find many more ideas at
http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/.
Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full, this can save up to 1,000 gallons of water a month. Choose native shrubs and groundcovers, instead of turf, for hard-to-water areas such as steep slopes and isolated strips. Water your lawn and garden in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler to minimize evaporation. For cold drinks keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap. This way, every drop goes down you and not the drain. Monitor your water bill for unusually high use. Your bill and water meter are tools that can help you discover leaks.
To learn more about the earth's water supply and usage, you can visit: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html.
Enjoy the lakes!
Moriya Rufer is the Lakes
Monitoring Program Coordinator for RMB Environmental Laboratories in
Source: US Geological Survey