Dear John, It’s the time of year when we try to slow down and give thanks in the company of good fellowship and food. Any way you cut it, that food is mostly water. Agricultural counts for more than two-thirds of humanity's freshwater use. And speaking of humanity, water makes up over half of each beloved person around your table. For the last couple of decades, the Circle of Blue team has been dedicated to the story of the century - the role water plays in our lives and livelihoods: from health to economics to food, energy and the environment. We are a non-profit group of journalists who know that when it comes to the future, it all boils down to water. So as you plan your menu and your guest list, we invite you to include Circle of Blue in your thoughts. Right now a challenge from NewsMatch means your one-time gift of support is matched dollar-for-dollar, up to a limit of $1,000. If you make a new gift via monthly installments, your first payment will be matched x12 to match a year’s worth of your donations. NewsMatch is an industry-wide movement to energize journalism through matching gifts. It’s offering us up to $10,000 in matching funds, so with your help we could raise up to $20,000 in total with this effort. It’s like getting a second helping, with twice the thanks!
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Agricultural irrigation uses around 70 percent of the world’s freshwater. In the U.S. state of Michigan, farms — like the one shown above — use 187 billion gallons of water per year. But as abundant fresh water and temperate climate become more attractive to out-of-state farm companies, Michigan is experiencing its own early confrontations over water supply and scarcity. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue