FRESH WATER

The amount of moisture on Earth has not changed. The water the dinosaurs drank millions of years ago is the same water that falls as rain today. But will there be enough for a more crowded world?

water-is-lifeWe keep an eye out for wonders, my daughter and I, every morning as we walk down our farm lane to meet the school bus. And wherever we find them, they reflect the magic of water: a spider web drooping with dew like a rhinestone necklace. A rain-colored heron rising from the creek bank. One astonishing morning, we had a visitation of frogs.

Dozens of them hurtled up from the grass ahead of our feet, launching themselves, white-bellied, in bouncing arcs, as if we’d been caught in a downpour of amphibians. It seemed to mark the dawning of some new aqueous age. On another day we met a snapping turtle in his primordial olive drab armor. Normally this is a pond-locked creature, but some murky ambition had moved him onto our gravel lane, using the rainy week as a passport from our farm to somewhere else. Read more

Conserve Water In Your Home

Here is an article from our friends at WhiteFence.  They are always looking for ways to help conserve your wallet and the planet’s resources.

WaterUsageHere is an article that hits very close to home for us at People Water.  Everyone can do something.  If you are looking to move into a new place, you can tell how well water will be conserved by reading this article.  You can even apply these tips to your own home.

One of the things you want to know before purchasing a house is how much water you’ll use to keep everything up and running. There are several determining factors that affect the number that can fluctuate with the seasons or occupant behavior, but there are a few ways to get a ballpark figure you can work with. Read more

6 Reasons To Drink Water

There are so many health benefits to drinking water.  Clearing up your skin and giving you more energy throughout the day are just a couple of reasons why.  This article was posted on WebMD written by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD.

waterAmericans seem to carry bottled water everywhere they go these days. In fact, it has become the second most popular drink (behind soft drinks). But water lovers got a jolt recently when we heard that a new report had found that the benefits of drinking water may have been oversold. Apparently, the old suggestion to drink eight glasses a day was nothing more than a guideline, not based on scientific evidence.

But don’t put your water bottle or glass down just yet. While we may not need eight glasses, there are plenty of reasons to drink water. In fact, drinking water (either plain or in the form of other fluids or foods) is essential to your health. Read more

Smarter Irrigation Returns Water to Arizona’s Verde River

What do you get when 21st century “smart” technology hooks up with a 19th century irrigation ditch?

The short answer: more water-wise farming and a healthier river.

That’s the story of this innovative project on the Verde River in central Arizona, where forward-thinking farmers joined up with the Nature Conservancy and installed a solar-powered “smart” gate and water-level sensor on their 150-year old irrigation ditch.  The automated gate allows the irrigators to take just the amount of water they need for their crops, and leave the rest for the river.

verde-riverNow, instead of drying up for miles during the irrigation season, the Verde keeps flowing—supporting not only local farms, but fish, river otters, birds, anglers, boaters, and those who just want to appreciate a healthy river. Read more

Sustainable Earth: Water

Clean water is essential for life, but most people in the developed world don’t think much about the water they use for drinking, food preparation, and sanitation. In developing nations, however, the search for safe drinking water can be a daily crisis. Millions of people die each year, most of them children, from largely preventable diseases caused by a lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation.

conference-waterSandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project and the National Geographic Society’s freshwater fellow, said freshwater scarcity presents a growing problem to be addressed during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil from June 20 to 22. “It manifests itself in the depletion of groundwater, and the drying up of rivers and lakes upon which people depend for irrigation to grow their food,” she said. “The intersection of water scarcity, food security, and a changing climate on top of it all raises a suite of water concerns that urgently need to be addressed.” Read more