Where is the Water? Is the question that people are asking today around the world. What do I mean where’s the water? It is flowing through your faucet, filling up your tub, packed inside of water bottles, gliding down the river; it is right here?!

Well for US it is right here. But it will not be here for long.

The Colorado River once expanded from the United States into Mexico. Now, the USA has used up so much water, that the River does not even reach Mexico. The USA alone has deprived an entire section of a country of drinking water, resources, economic opportunities, and food.

The issue is that we use too much water that we do not need. We use water at a faster rate compared to time for it to filter.

Maybe us in the northeast do not see it, cause we are lucky enough to have many resources of water. However, there are other places around the country that use up water like there is no tomorrow. A prime example would be places such as Arizona. In reality, if the land is that hot and not near water, it is NOT made for humanity and certainly cannot support our lifestyles. In these hot arid places they need swimming pools, nice gardens, drinking water, and many other aspects that we do not need everyday. The water that is redirected to these areas is taken away from the environment and the people who live around it.

There are modern day wars in Africa fighting over water. In India people are bathing, playing, drinking, doing laundry and more in the Ganges River. It is a river of religious importance, but how do officials get people to come to easier solutions or even wait between time periods in order to save the purity of the water.

Even though I am not writing this from Arizona or Africa or India, but there is a way everyone can help the water crisis; To educate yourself.

When understanding water, there are several topics that must be covered:

1. Water does not come from an endless source, water is constantly refiltered and put back into the system. The rate in which people are using it at, does not allow time for it to be cleaned and put into the system (naturally and artificially). And as my own personal plug, the water in your water bottle has less health regulations on it compared to what is in your Aquafina bottle. (You don’t want to know).
2. But sometimes it is not put back into the system and creates what is known as greywater and blackwater. Gray water comes from things such as showers, dishwashers and basically all water sources that do not contain human excrement. Lucky for us, Greywater can be filtered and repurposed. For example, the water you just bathed in can be used in your toilet. (Even though it is filtered) Who cares what water is in the toilet? No one is drinking that. Another instance may be hooking up your dishwasher to a system which filtrates the water via sand and other materials to irrigate your garden. It is an economical and environmental way to feed your garden!
3. Blackwater is much more dangerous because it does contain human waste and the particulars of filtering this water are extremely specific depending on some things you probably do not want to read about. One solution mentioned would be a compost toilet, but you may not be a favor of a compost toilet in your home considering the smell.
4. Take a shorter shower. Simple as that.
5. Turn your sprinklers on in the early morning. Your lawn only needs 1 inch of water per week. By having them set to about 3 or 4 am, it prevents water loss. The water will soak into the topsoil as opposed to being directly evaporated by the sun in the mid afternoon.
6. Get the water from the tap (if you’re skeptical use a filter). Not onlybetter for you but it saves you money. Through taxes you pay for your tap water. Going out and buying an average bottle of aquafina.
7. Eat less meat. it sounds strange but it actually saves water. If you're curious this is how:
8. Understand the difference between Global Climate Change and Global warming. Believe it or not, this has a large impact on the water we get. Not just the quality of water but when we get water. The Ice Caps hold most of the freshwater left on earth and those are diminishing alongside the snow on the mountain tops. These events are drying up rivers and lakes as we speak. Not only that, but rising global temperatures allow longer periods of time between rain. This means more droughts and more intense storms such as Hurricane Sandy.

Even though it you may not see a direct effect from these little tasks, it is actually making a huge difference. Maybe the water you are saving is being packed into bottles and sent with a group to Sub-Saharan Africa. Or that rights group who you donated a dollar to may put in a well to a village far from water because they do not have the funds to move. Every drop you save, is one more drop you are saving for the future, your children, another human being, another animal, a plant. The earth is a commons, and we must share it as such. A water crisis is a human rights crisis.

It is not your planet, or their plant, or his planet or her planet, or its planet. This is our planet.