WATER AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT FOR LIFE

Water Conflict Management Environment Natural Resources

Geoff Dabelko is Director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center. In this presentation, Dabelko describes how water quality and quantity are declining in many parts of the world, posing acute problems for communities and governments. This crisis, along with high levels of interdependence on shared water resources, has led many members of the news media and some politicians to warn of imminent “water wars” between countries. Yet such wars between nations over water have never occurred in modern history and are unlikely to take place in the future. Although tensions over water resources often lead countries to trade hostile words, such exchanges rarely escalate into full-fledged conflicts.

WORLD WATER DAY -WERI2009

So give us a call, and we can perform a free

Analysis on your water today!

“Although often perceived to be pretty ordinary, water (H2O) is the most remarkable substance. We wash in it, fish in it, swim in it, drink it and cook with it, although probably not all at the same time. We are about two-thirds water and require water to live. Life as we know it could not have evolved without water and dies without it. Droughts cause famines and floods cause death and disease. Because of its clear importance, water is the most studied material on Earth. It comes as a surprise, therefore, to find that it is so poorly understood, not only by people in general, but also by scientists working with it everyday.”

- Martin Chaplin

Making paper affects the water Clean water is one of our most precious natural resources. Harvesting trees for paper production affects water negatively in two ways: Once trees are removed, there are no roots to hold soil in place. When it rains, the soil flows downhill into streams, lakes, and eventually the ocean, where it sinks to the bottom covering up algae and small plants that fish eat. Making paper from trees uses a lot of fresh water. After the water is used in the paper-making factory, it is full of toxic chemicals and not safe to go back into the local waterways without being cleaned. If every person in San Mateo County recycled one piece of paper, it would save nearly 3,000 gallons of water.

Just think of how much water you are saving by recycling every sheet of paper that you use. Water never goes away This picture of the water (hydrologic) cycle shows how our planet recycles water. View large map Just like in the picture, San Mateo County is divided by a mountain range, called the Santa Cruz Mountains. Most of the rain falls in the higher elevations of these mountains which rise up to 2,000 feet. From the mountains, water flows down toward the Pacific Ocean to the west as you see in this picture, and toward the San Francisco Bay to the east. Because the water never really goes away, it is important that it is kept clean and pure. Watersheds of San Mateo County To understand how the water collects and flows in San Mateo County you need to look at the watersheds. A watershed is an area of land where all of the water that drains off of it or is under it goes into the same place. Find the watershed that you live in using this map of all 34 watersheds in San Mateo County. The picture below illustrates a typical watershed.

Sustaining Natural Resources and Environmental Integrity During Response to Crisis and Conflict

Featuring Charles Kelly, Affiliate, Benfield Hazard Research Centre at the University College London.

In this video from the Environmental Change and Security Program, Charles Kelly, discusses the importance of carefully planning and executing post-conflict environmental assistance. In his presentation, Kelly emphasizes that environmental issues cannot be solved without competent governance, and discusses ongoing post-conflict and disaster management operations in Haiti and the Sudan and offers suggestions for the way forward.

WATER AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT FOR LIFE

THE BENEFITS OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE

THE VISION

Water is critical to sustain life.

Our Mission is to provide life-sustaining drinking water to people in environments where there is not a readily available source. We have developed a revolutionary and practical scientific breakthrough that literally taps into our atmosphere as an “alternative source” of fresh drinking water. We are introducing our line of products which produce significant amounts of “off the grid” water for disaster preparedness/relief, military and humanitarian applications.

• The proprietary technology allows for simple water capture from the air in virtually any climate, while using less energy than traditional methods.