Clean Water Crisis When it comes to environmental issues there are many routes one can analyze, but

a commonly overlooked global crisis is water scarcity. Water is a human necessity that is denied to many, even though our globe is made up of seventy percent water; although of this seventy percent only 2.5 percent is fresh, clean water. Unfortunately most of this fresh water is not easily accessible since it is trapped in glaciers and ice caps making the total of fresh, accessible water a mere one percent. The amount of freshwater has remained constant over thousands of years, but since the population is continuously growing, billions of people are suffering from lack of water. The issue of clean water has been noticeable within our society for ages, but as our population grows the issue continues to worsen. As global food markets grow, the need for importing and exporting food increases thus making farming unsustainable when it comes to water use. In India there has become a higher need for water then for local farming, ultimately forcing landowners to mine for water. Since many farmers have started to mine water instead of farm food, India imports more food then it grows in order to feed the Indian citizens. According to Suresh Ponnusami, a local water miner, says that he does not farm anymore and only mines water thus allowing him to live a comfortable lifestyle. Water mining is a process in which individuals drill into rocks and pump out the water from underground sources and sell it to local companies. This mining is due to lack of water within local rivers and lakes, thus depleting the water supply even more. Mining water and irrigating food within India requires 46 cubic miles of water to be pumped, where as nature replaces 29 cubic miles of water, leaving plenty of room for over stressed water. India is not the only country that is over pumping water; it is a global issue that traces back to our own land within the United States. In the United States there is one main aquifer that supplies water to most of America, the Ogallala aquifer. As consumption raises so does the use and over pumping of water from Ogallala. This aquifer is slowly being depleted thus forcing farmers to turn their crops into sagebrush due to limited water availability. As technology evolves more methods to

use less water arise, as well as the creation of scientifically engineered crops that require less water. Although, farmers continuously to over water ultimately making it hard to be pumped out of the ground once irrigated due to evaporation. There are nearly two billion people that live in areas plagued by water crisis and an alarming two-thirds of the worlds population live in areas that suffer from water-stress due to over use and climate change. Across the globe, water tables are dropping, pumping is getting harder and water is getting saltier, resulting in limited water resources. Areas like the United States and India are developed nations that are approaching water crisis leaving developing nations even more stressed by lack of water. According to National Geographic, water is not only being pumped out of aquifers, lakes and rivers it is beginning to get mined out of rocks underground. Clean and accessible water is becoming a global issue that not only affects those in developing nations, but also those who live in developed and technologically advanced nations.

Bibliography Pearce, Fred. "Grabbing Water From Future Generations." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.