World Water Day helps put problems in fresh perspective

You don't have to tell people in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas about the importance of water.

We've depended on it for our livelihood since the earliest European settlers staked their claims along the Republican River, and before that, the Native Americans planned their travels around the availability of water.

A story elsewhere in today's paper announces $848,000 in funding for a study designed to find a fair, sustainable way to allocate water from the Republican River as it wends its way through Northeast Colorado, Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas. Let's hope that study, in conjunction with one being conducted by the Middle Republican Natural Resources District and Nebraska Department of Water Resources, helps find a solution to the conflict between Nebraska and Kansas over Republican River water.

No one complained about the rain we received over the last couple of days -- it is sorely needed, as our area is already far behind normal rainfall for the year.

While we're mainly concerned about agriculture, in many parts of the world, such as Kenya and other parts of Africa, clean fresh water is a true life-or-death matter.

That's why today has been designated World Water Day, a day to examine our use of water, find ways to use less of it and promote ways to provide it to those who need it.

One such effort is undertaken by the Jewish National Fund on behalf of Israel, which has been a leader in desalination technology and water recycling for years, reusing 75 percent of its waste water every year.

Most of that recycled water goes to agriculture, which saves the scarce fresh water for human consumption. The JNF has built reservoirs and wetlands technology to increase the country's water supply by 12 percent.

The situation is certainly not as critical here, but today is a good time to think about all the fresh water we use -- and waste -- in the course of a day. That's especially true in McCook, where every drop goes through an expensive, and wasteful, water treatment process. You can calculate the amount you use at this link: http://www.jnf.org/work-we-do/our-projects/water/world-water-day.html

The JNF website lists the amount of water needed for food and consumer items, and it is an eye-opener. For instance, it takes 53 gallons of water to produce a cup of milk, 37 for a cup of coffee and 32 for a glass of wine, once all production is taken into account.

It climbs up to 634 gallons for a pound of hamburger, 1,857 for a pound of beef and 2,900 gallons for a pair of jeans.

An Internet search turns up dozens of organizations getting involved in the effort to provide fresh water to those who need it. Check them out carefully, and you may find a way to get involved.

At the very least, reading about water shortages elsewhere in the world should help put our water problems in perspective.