Being “Water Wise” is one of Mankind’s challenges in balancing

People Needs and Natural Resource Management

Let’s consider the World’s Lakes

FIRST JUST KNOW -- WATER IS LIFE

But a Number of World Lakes are Drying from Wikipedia

Dead Sea in Israel and JordanHamun Lake on Iran-Afghan borderSalton Sea in CaliforniaLake Chad in AfricaAral Sea in Central AsiaTulare Lake in CaliforniaUrmia Lake in IranOwens Lake in CaliforniaLake Mead in Nevada and ArizonaWalker Lake in NevadaMono Lake in CaliforniaFucine Lake in ItalyPoyang Lake in ChinaQinghai Lake in ChinaWhite Bear Lake in Minnesota

Lake Meredith in TexasLake Albert in South AustraliaBuffalo Lake in TexasGreat Salt Lake in UtahLake Hindmarsh in AustraliaE.V. Spence Reservoir in TexasLake Poopo in BoliviaLake Powell in Arizona and UtahLake Copais in Boeotia, GreeceLake George in AustraliaNainital in Utarakhand, IndiaDe Hilmand Hamun in AfghanistanBakhtegan Lake in IranLake Faguibine in MaliLake Chapala in Mexico

Asia’s Aral Sea is an example of poor Natural Resource Management, as its water is diverted for irrigation

Before After

Satellite imagery from 1984 to 2014 reveals the diminishing surface area of Urmia Lake in Iran

1984 2014

River flow into the Great Salt Lake has dropped 39% since 1850, due to population growth and agriculture. Irrigation consumes 63 percent of overall water use from the rivers.

The Receding ShorelineThe Original Shoreline

Improved agricultural practices such as these terraces in Iowa serve to preserve soil, reduce water needs and improve water quality.

SOLUTIONS ARE REQUIRED

A water harvesting system collects rainwater from the Rock of Gibraltar then saved in tanks excavated inside the rock.

Experts Name the Top 19 Solutions to the Global Freshwater Crisis• Educate to change consumption and lifestyles• Invent new water conservation technologies• Recycle wastewater• Improve irrigation and agricultural practices• Appropriately price water• Develop energy efficient desalination plants• Improve water catchment and harvesting• Look to community-based governance and partnerships• Develop and enact better policies and regulations• Holistically manage ecosystems• Improve distribution infrastructure• Shrink corporate water footprints• Build international frameworks and institutional cooperation• Address pollution• Public common resources / equitable access• R&D / Innovation• Water projects in developing countries / transfer of technology• Climate change mitigation• Population growth control http://www.circleofblue.org/

But solutions to change the impact - cost money