65% Of Our Drinking Water Comes From Rivers And Streams. Surface water finds its way to streams to rivers to lakes, where the confluence of these waters pauses momentarily before rolling into an ocean. Our waters mark the passage of our history and time, mirror our progress and way of life, and flow on toward eternity with or without us. Along the water's way, we all lean upon our waters heavily; and we compete for it aggressively via the demands of agriculture, energy, industry, municipal users, and ourselves… those of us who brewed a pot of coffee this morning, showered recently, or had a drink to quench a thirst. We expect water to be always available and easily accessible… and we all dip into the flow of water to power our electric lives; cool, wash and rinse our industries and cities, feed our fields and livestock, and flush our domestic homes and commercial buildings.

As precious as air, as productive as soil, as old as stone… the waters of our country are a treasure and a resource without which we simply cannot live. We often take our water for granted or over use it at our peril; we must protect it for our future.