SOCIAL People depend on water for every element of daily life. Starting with the human body, which is 70% water, people require water for drinking, food preparation, and overall good health and hygiene. Reducing illness improves quality of life and enables people to work successful jobs and enjoy the fruits of their labor through recreation and leisure. Clean water resources also provide a venue for mentallyrestorative leisure activities such as fishing and boating, and promote healthy lifestyles through physical activities like swimming, rowing, kayaking, hiking, biking and running. These activities foster socialization among neighbors, building a sense of inclusion and regional identity through clean water resources.13
ENVIRONMENTAL Healthy, balanced ecosystems provide a number of services, such as filtering anthropogenic pollutants from the air and water.14 If the environment’s ability to sustain these services were compromised, humans would be required to invest in more costintensive treatment processes15 in order to provide quality water for drinking supply, manufacturing, and agricultural irrigation. Water resources have shaped and enriched the region’s unrivaled aquatic biodiversity,16 topography, and other natural resources. Preserving water quality means preserving the region’s identity for a rich ecological past, present, and future.
INTRODUCTION 15