International Water World Day 2010!

What is Water World Day?

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. Past Years of World Water Day celebrations.    FLOW About Water Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. (www.charitywater.org)  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently does not regulate 51 known water contaminants. (www.foodandwaterwatch.org) While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five. (www.charitywater.org) The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. (www.water.org) According to the National Resources Defense Council, in a scientific study in which more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water were tested, about one-third of the bottles contained synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. (www.nrdc.org)  Water is a $400 billion dollar global industry; the third largest behind electricity and oil. CBS News, FLOW. There are estimates that from five hundred thousand to seven million people get sick per year from drinking tap water. Erik Olson, Deputy Staff Director of Barbara Boxerʼs Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW), FLOW. Californiaʼs water supply is running out – it has about 20 years of water left in the state. Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant and co-author of Blue Gold, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, FLOW. There are over 116,000 human-made chemicals that are finding their way into public water supply systems. William Marks, author of Water Voices from Around the World, FLOW. In Bolivia nearly one out of every ten children will die before the age of five. Most of those deaths are related to illnesses that come from a lack of clean drinking water. Jim Schultz, founder of the Democracy Center in Bolivia, FLOW. The cost per person per year for having 10 liters of safe drinking water every day is just $6 USD. Ashok Gadgil, Senior Staff Scientist in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, FLOW  About the Film Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?" Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. On December 10th, 2008 FLOW was invited to screen at the United Nations as part of the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. Watch the video here:  FLOW at the UN Director:  Born in France, Irena started her career at 15 as a radio journalist in Paris, then worked in production in various capacities on numerous US films before writing and directing her first short, See You on Monday, sponsored by LifeTime Television for the Hamptons Film Festival. Her first film, Ghost Bird: The Life and Art of Judith Deim (2000) is an award-winning documentary that delves into the remarkable life of St. Louis-born artist Judith Deim. Ghost Bird was featured at many festivals, won Best Documentary at the 15th Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, the Presidents' Award at Mexico's prestigious Ajijic Film Festival, and is an evergreen audience favorite on the Sundance Channel.              TAKE ACTION/FLOW

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