* cooking, drinking, washing, transportation, trade, energy, irrigation, and recreation

* population growth and advancments in technology have threatened water supply

* overfishing and population stress seas and the human population living in arid lands.

Reliance on Water

* Demand will exceed supply by 40% in about 20 years

* 1 million people facing water scarcity

* According to one estimate, as the Mediterranean region and southern Africa face reduced rainfall, 1 billion people who live in these already dry regions will face increased water scarcity.

* 1/3 of large cities get water from forests

* Forests are nature's "water factories", they capture, store, purify, and gradually release clean water to cities downstream

* Most coastal cities are located near rivers that flow into the ocean and provide them with a freshwater supply