“Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink”. Taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” , the author describes a man dying of thirst surrounded by a sea of water. This text, in many ways, describes one on the major challenges facing the world today. Beyond simply having access to water, the ability to effectively manage this precious resource will be essential for long-term global sustainability. Governments, businesses, and individuals around the world are recognizing the relationships of water to long term sustainability. Clean, fresh, and ‘usable’ water is no longer just an issue for developing countries. It has become a global social and business sustainability issue. Water is linked to every facet of life on our planet and directly interacts with a myriad of sustainability concepts. Focusing specifically on the unique energy/water relationship, our professional consulting discusses this critical link in a recent post. In many ways water, rather than energy production challenges, will be the focus for many in the future. • Water and energy are essential to every aspect of life: social equity, ecosystem integrity, economic and business sustainability. • Water is used to generate energy; energy is used to provide water. • Water and energy are used to produce crops; crops can in turn be used to generate energy through biofuels. As a sustainability consultants, we explore the full stream of sustainability. Water management, like all sustainability concepts, is a continuous and all-inclusive process. Providing abundant clean water will require efforts from all angles, and both large scale and individual water cycle management.
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