World Water Day

Walk for Water on World Water Day
By Faiza Elmasry
Washington, D.C.
21 March 2006

Supporters in white T-shirts each hold up a bottle of water in a World Water Day publicity photo
In observance of World Water Day this year, thousands of Americans are walking to draw attention to the lack of clean drinking water in many parts of the world
Communities across the globe have observed World Water Day each March 22nd, since the United Nations designated it in 1993. Each year sees more activities, campaigns and initiatives designed to draw attention to the lack of clean drinking water in many parts of the world, and to enlist public support to end the water crisis. This year, thousands of Americans have decided to take an extra step - actually many extra steps - toward this goal, by participating in Walks for Water.

Kenyan women walk for water
For millions of people around the world, clean water is as close as the nearest faucet. For millions more, it is more than an hour's walk away. Wednesday, March 22, in a show of solidarity with them, people in 11 cities across the United States are also walking for water.
"The Walks are meant to signify the walks that millions of women and children take every day around the world to get water and lead their daily lives." Peter Thum says. Mr. Thum became aware of world water issues in the 1990's, when he was working in Africa as a management consultant.

Peter Thum and Jonathan Greenblatt
In 2002, he and a business school classmate, Jonathan Greenblatt, started Ethos Bottled Water Company, and partnered with non-governmental organizations that support world water projects. Last year, Ethos was acquired by the Starbucks coffee company, and under the new management, Ethos is sponsoring Walks for Water.
Greenblatt expects these walks to be the largest mobilization ever in the history of World Water Day. "We're going to be joined by members of community organizations, like local area Rotary clubs, by student groups like Net Impact, by non-profits like 'Water for People,' all of whom are coming together," he says, "and people are participating in these walks."

Participants will walk together along a three to five kilometer route in the various cities, many carrying water jugs to symbolize their cause. Peter Thum says raising awareness about a problem is the first step toward finding solutions. He says everyone around the world is welcome to join the Walks for Water campaign.
"Go to our website," he says. "On that website people can see pictures about the world water crisis. They can learn about the issue. They can send e-mail with post card pictures to their friends to let people know about the issue. You can sign up on line for Walks for Water. You can also sign up for virtual Walks for Water."

Ethos water's big blue bio-diesel bus
Last summer, Thum and Greenblatt spent ten weeks driving across the country in a big blue bio-diesel bus to raise awareness about the world water crisis and sell Ethos bottled water. Greenblatt says five cents from each bottle they sell is donated to a fund that supports clean water projects in other parts of the world. "We set a goal to raise $10 million over the next 5 years to bring clean water to children in places like Kenya, Ethiopia, Honduras, India and Bangladesh and across the world," he says.
Jonathan Greenblatt says Walks for Water is not a one-time campaign. It's the beginning of an annual tradition on World Water Day that will give individuals a unique opportunity to play a personal role in alleviating the world water crisis.

http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2006-03-21-voa68.cfm

WHERE WAS BUSH ON 'WORLD WATER DAY?'
Giving a speech at a military base about the merits of Iraq. That is nothing but pure ignorance leading the USA into a demoralized state of inhumanity ! What does Canada EXPECT of the USA on water quality. Clear Water !


Preserving our water supply

It has been said water will become the oil of the 21st century. We think that undervalues water: It sustains life; oil does not.
With today marking World Water Day, it would be nice to report that all is well with this invaluable resource. Clearly, it isn't.
Even in this heartland of the Great Lakes, the source of 20 per cent of the world's fresh water, there is cause for concern.
We thought we were winning the battle against pollution years ago. Then came a report last month from Environmental Defence and the Canadian Environmental Law Association that dangerous pollutants had increased in the Great Lakes by 21 per cent between 1998 and 2002.
There's also the issue of water quantity. In December, Ontario and Quebec and the eight Great Lakes states signed an agreement to protect the lakes from major water diversions.
That was a major victory. The first Great Lakes Charter Annex agreement was deemed to be vulnerable to diversions from outside the lakes basin -- a major threat when U.S. population growth is skyrocketing in such arid areas as Arizona. Public opposition to that plan led to revisions that plugged the leak.
Even with that, the Great Lakes are barely holding their own. Precipitation and inflows just manage to replenish losses through evaporation, which amounts of one per cent of the Great Lakes' water annually.
Canadians must be increasingly vigilant about our water resources. It is no secret that as water resources decline in the U.S., Washington will be increasingly interested in Canadian sources.
Still, Canadians cannot claim a moral high ground. We're as wasteful as the Americans. North Americans consume two to four times the amount of water Europeans do. We must do better, especially as climate change further impacts water supplies.
The importance of clean, safe water was driven home to delegates to the World Water Forum in Mexico City, which concludes today. They were told that about 1.1 billion people lack clean drinking water, which causes diseases that kill 3.1 million people a year. Of the deaths, 1.7 million could be prevented with better sanitation.
Then there's the Devils Lake diversion that North Dakota carried out over objections from Manitoba and Canada.
North Dakota, to help drain a nine-metre rise in Devils Lake since 1993, has sent water through a 22-kilometre diversion channel to the Sheyenne River. From there, it flows into the Red River and north to Canada and Lake Winnipeg.
Canadian authorities worry the salt- and phosphorus-tainted water will contaminate our water. A temporary gravel filter was installed to prevent that, but Manitoba Premier Gary Doer is trying to convince Prime Minister Stephen Harper to pressure U.S. President George W. Bush on the need for a better one.
On World Water Day, it's imperative we all examine our usage of this resource and conserve it as though it were as costly as oil.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Opinion/Editorials/2006/03/22/1499363.html

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