It's #WorldWaterDay!

As you may have noticed 'round the Twitterz, no less on my feed than others, today is World Water Day.

I would wager that only a vanishing fraction of the public knows that's even a thing ... and now I have to 'fess up: I didn't realize it was either. Which is pretty sad, considering how long I've been a hydrogeologist. I'm glad that this year quite a few major players have been relatively vocal for the observance.

Lower Calf Creek Falls near Escalante, Utah, is a perfect example of how even a
small stream can make all the difference to an area.

The Nature Conservancy's interactive web experience, Liquid Courage, is really well done -- it's even fun for non-water-nerds. NASA's Earth Science Division has an excellent video up for the occasion, while World Resources Institute has a totally geo-nerdgasmic tool called Aqueduct Country and River Basin Rankings live on their site (and yes, it's much cooler than that awful name). Not to be outdone, TreeHugger's piece on water scarcity is profoundly frightening. If you aren't already familiar with the work of Water for People, you should be -- and the newish One Drop is also an excellent addition to the arena. NRDC and WWF both have notable nods as well .

I am, however, rather disappointed that NASA seems our only government agency paying attention; EPA, US Geologic Survey, and the Forest Service are all mum about World Water Day, or even the recent Groundwater Awareness Week. Le sigh. I guess these are the sorts of agencies that are closed on Saturdays?