Today (3/22) is world water day

In 1992, the UN General Assembly designated March 22 as “World Water Day” to draw international attention to the critical lack of clean, safe drinking water worldwide. It is a time when we are encouraged to pause and consider the largest public health issue of our time – the global scarcity of clean water.

The facts are mind boggling. More than 1 billion people world wide – 20% of the planet’s entire human population – lack access to clean, safe drinking water. According to the United Nations, this world water crisis leads to the death of more than 4,500 children every day and is a leading cause of poverty, disease, and social instability world wide.

Water resources are becoming increasingly scarce in a number of mountain counties. Local politicians have water conservation as their number #1 priority in many local races here in Watauga County, NC. In North Carolina and Virginia both, waterborn mercury puts 1 in 6 pregnant women are at high risk for nuerological damage to their newborns.

Check out the World Water Day website