WATER WISE

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
– Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia (1732)

We tend to take for granted the things we view as having the greatest abundance. We are fortunate to live in an abundant place, which means we are prone to lose sight of our good fortune.

Often, we are told that Canadians have 20 percent of the world’s freshwater, but even that requires some perspective. Less than half of that supply—about seven percent of the world’s freshwater—is considered “renewable,” which is to say it could be replenished. Even then, half of our renewable water supply drains north into the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay, which leaves 3.5 percent of the global water supply accessible