ABSTRACT
Water is Needed to produce things people value, whether for manufacturing automobiles, growing lettuce and strawberries, ensuring greener lawns and full swimming pools, or for automated dishwashing to save time and improve household sanitation. 1 And water provides for more than material comforts. In art, music, and literature, water in the landscape is a symbol of pleasure and inspiration. Water is the focus of even the least wild places—Japanese gardens and Las Vegas hotel fountains. Rivers, lakes, and reservoirs behind dams are at the center of many recreation experiences. To secure all these uses of water, significant public and private investments have been made to control and manage the flows of water in rivers and lakes and into estuaries. Dams create reservoirs that store rainfall and snowmelt from wet times to provide water during dry times. Pipelines and canals move water over long distances. Wells are drilled and water is pumped to the surface and used in homes and on farms.
