Only recently has it occurred to me that the relatively peaceful environment of our coast is unique.
In numerous places around the world people face live or death situations daily because of water access issues and related war activity. The documentary Blue Gold along with the research we are doing for our group project on the privatization of Great Lakes water has helped me realize that although there is significantly less bloodshed on the Great Lakes coast over water access, tensions exist and are worthy of attention.
Here is a PDF from the Michigan Land Use Institute chock-full of information and action steps
Deciding the Fate of the Great Lakes
"Rainfall and snowmelt replenish each year only about one percent of the water in the lakes,
rivers, and aquifers that make up the Great Lakes basin. The other 99 percent of water in the
basin is finite and nonrenewable"
It it interesting that we can only use/take 1% of the water in the great lakes each year for all our needs in order to maintain a sustainable system.
ReplyDeleteThat is surprising that 99% of the water in the Great Lakes is non-renewable. I am definitely grateful that I don't have to fight other people or worry about whether I will have enough water. Hopefully, we can continue to share the water peacefully, and find ways to use it more sustainably.
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