Water in all its forms is the essential ingredient to life. Fresh water is crucial to our survival in many ways, can improve our quality of life, and make our lives easier and more enjoyable. Because water is such an imperative part of everyone's lives, we must all work together to conserve this natural and precious gift.
             "If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water."
             Statistics show that already 20% of the world's population does not have access to fresh water, and Canada having the second largest fresh water population is the envy of many countries around the world. So, according to these facts the situation seems quite simple; Canada has a vast supply of fresh water so we should therefore sell it to countries in need. However this ignorant assumption is not as easy as it is made out to be. For several years there have been endless discussions on whether or not to export Canada's water and divert rivers and streams south into the United States. Not only do these proposals make no economical sense, but they also would cause immeasurable social problems within the country. If Canada agrees to export its water, we will ultimately loose power over our most precious resource.
             Those who are in support of exporting Canada's water are under the impression that unlike natural gas, oil and other "nonrenewable resources", Canada's fresh water is quite easily replenished. This however is not the case. In the Great Lakes, where the most of Canada's usable fresh water is located, only 1% of the water is renewable. Saying this, only 9% of our total fresh water supply is renewable. This is hardly a high enough percentage to define our fresh water as renewable. Another myth concerning the abundance of fresh water in Canada is that Canadians feel that we have such an endless supply of water that we just abuse our rights to it. However, the ...