Fresh water scarcity growing regionally

• Water tables dropping (USGS)
• Water well depletion
• Subsidence (gradual or abrupt fissures or sinking of the earth) especially prevalent in Southwest
• Scarcity contributes to water quality problem
• Salt-water incursions (USGS)
• Atlantic Coastal Plain, West-central Florida, Gulf Coastal Plain
• Saline in ground water (USGS)
• Underlying saline water moves upward degrading water quality in depleted inland aquifers

Fresh water contamination

• Contaminated drinking water is responsible for a large percentage of all human disease (WHO)
• 2,000 new chemical compounds introduced each year (ATDW)
• Approximately 99.5% of all chemicals currently in use in the U.S. do not have a federal or state standard (ATDW)
• Only 7.6% of U.S. public water systems monitor and report chemicals in the EPA Drinking Water Standards list. (ATDW)

Centuries-old infrastructure breaking down in some regions

• Waste and fresh water pipes crossed over in Atlanta resulting in tap water that looked like beer (U.S. News & World Report)
• 650 water mains break every day, chronic leakage in about 20-30% of the infrastructure (USGS, EIR)
• Debris, fecal matter, drugs and toxins get sucked into the pipes carrying "fresh" water (USGS and U.S. News & World Report)

Worldwide, increasing populations in regions where water tables dropping

• Example: The International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI) estimates India using underground water reserves at least twice as fast as they are replenished. India's population (1 Billion) is expected to grow another 500 Million in the next 50 years.