Freshwater on Earth

So why all the fuss about water conservation?

Approximately 1 in 3 people around the world does not have adequate fresh water supplies to meet their daily needs
While nearly 70% of the world is covered by water, only 2.5% of it is freshwater. Less than 1 % of the freshwater is surface water and easily accessible but most is trapped in glaciers, snow cover and groundwater
In essence, only 0.007% of the planet's water is available to support over 7.6 billion people
With prolonged droughts and rapid population growth around the world, water shortages are increasingly more frequent
Late last year South Africa’s largest city, Cape Town, faced the real prospect of running out of water

The government warned of “Day Zero” – a moment when reservoir dam levels would be so low that they would have to turn off the taps and send people to communal water collection points
Extreme conservation efforts have helped postpone Day Zero until 2019, but without enough rain, Cape Town’s water supply could still dry up

In response to water shortages in 1981, Denver Water developed the principles of Xeriscaping, a practice which significantly reduces water use in urban landscapes by incorporating drought tolerant native and adapted plants more suitable to Colorado’s dry climate
Once established, Xeriscape plants can survive mostly on rainfall with a minimal amount of supplemental irrigation