World Water Day 2010

Last week, March 22 to be exact was World Water Day. It was established in 1992 by the United Nations to raise awareness about the worldwide water crisis. One billion people around the world don’t have clean drinking water, and 2.6 billion still lack enough water for basic sanitation. It’s hard to imagine my world without water, especially since it’s pouring outside and the dirt road I live on is mud city. Where I live in the northeast we take water for granted, there is rarely a shortage and it seems I can’t travel 5 miles without crossing some little stream, brook, river or without seeing a pond or lake.

I pondered the impact on my life without this water. Of course there is the obvious impact on health but I quickly realized just how much of my recreational and professional life is tied to healthy water and easy access to it. I spend as much time as possible in, on and near water resources. I fly fish, kayak, canoe, ski (hey it’s still water) and photograph in a variety of waterscapes. I find no greater peace than standing in the river feeling the current against my legs or sitting by a lake in the morning as the mist rises off the water or camping along the shores of an Adirondack pond listening to a loon call for its mate. As spring rains refresh our landscape this year let’s take a moment to appreciate the bounty we have and perhaps even take action to protect this precious resource.