Turn on your kitchen tap for a glass of water and you get as much clean, fresh water as you want. But what if you just got a trickle, or worse yet, nothing at all?

For about a billion people around the world, access to fresh water isn’t a given. An adequate supply of water is a real and daily concern. We can change that.

Nature communicates dangers clearly. We’re paying close attention to the signs. Since millions of unique species depend on Earth’s freshwater supplies, shrinking populations of freshwater-dependent plants and animals is a warning that water supplies for people are dwindling, too. This isn’t just a problem in developing countries. It’s a problem for every one of the 6.6 billion people that live on this planet.

ARTICLE: Water in the sacred mountain.

Take the páramo ecosystem of the South American Andes region, an alpine grassland of great importance to the entire continent. The páramo is the main watershed for Colombia’s capital city of Bogota, home to 7 million people. Ecuador’s largest city, Quito, also depends on the páramo for half of its water. The ecosystem is a unique one: its plants trap water and fog and mountain glaciers keep the páramo wet by transforming passing moisture from the Amazon rain forests into rain. This fresh water is then used by the region’s residents to take care of their everyday needs. But if regional temperatures continue to rise at the current alarming rates, the glaciers will disappear, and the páramo could become a desert, leaving millions of people without adequate water supplies.

With our partners, we’re trying to stop the same devastation in critical freshwater habitats around the world. In dozens of countries, we’re working with various sectors to ensure activities such as manufacturing, mining, and tourism don’t interfere unnecessarily with freshwater resources. Many local or indigenous communities have invited us to support their efforts to make sure their much-needed freshwater supplies are used appropriately and sustainably. Because if places like the páramo are threatened, then so too are the communities that depend on these life sources.

Fresh water makes up just 3 percent of the world’s water supply. We’re doing everything possible to make sure that this remaining three percent is protected and available for every person on Earth, today, and for the future.    

EXPEDITION: Follow our scientists' trip to study the freshwater habitats of Cambodia.