Six case studies show how young students and professionals are helping to solve the growing problems of widespread overuse and abuse of our planet's most precious and limited resource: water. Both the positive and negative scientific and social implications of water's utilization are explored in this cross-curriculuar resource.

SURFACE WATER: A Day in the Life of the Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is one of the U.S.' longest rivers, its Texas section forming a natural border between the U.S. and Mexico. Competing human claims for it are viewed through the eyes of two young women: a whitewater rafting guide in upstream New Mexico and a teenager downstream near El Paso.

UNDERGROUND AQUIFER WATER: Precision Farming
Despite its wonders, Earth's water cycle does not spread water evenly around the planet. The Ogallala Aquifer?s huge underground reservoir of water gives states such as Nebraska a large but limited irrigation source. Experience how one progressive farm family uses technology to conserve water while producing higher food yields and profits.

DRINKING WATER: Bottle or Tap?
A huge bottled-water industry has recently emerged, with the U.S. its largest consumer. A blind taste test by young students suggests that most people cannot tell the difference between tap and bottled water. This program poses questions to the theory that bottled water is better for us and the environment.

CLEANING POLLUTED WATER: Pumped Up for Peace
Drinking water pollution can cause many deadly diseases, especially in children of poor countries around the world. Learn how student fundraisers and field scientists from the U.S. have helped indigenous peoples develop water treatment systems using their own technologies.

RESTORING H2O ECOSYSTEMS: Saving Chesapeake Bay
In the U.S., polluted waters can have damaging economic and social effects, as well as destroy environmental habitats. The Chesapeake Bay is one of the most polluted watersheds in America, but Baltimore-area students are working with commercial crab catchers and scientists in the Baltimore area to help restore its health.

THE GREAT LAKES: Who Owns the Water?
Fair distribution of water has long been a worldwide problem. The Great Lakes contain 20% of the world?s fresh surface water, but that water is currently available to only a small portion of our population. Should other water-scarce regions have access to this water? What effect would the piping of Great Lakes water to other areas have on the lakes and on Midwestern environments?
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