As Clean Water for NC and all of our members and allies continue to work for Safe, Affordable Water for All in our state, it’s crucial to keep in mind that much of the world lacks the water and wastewater management that we’ve MOSTLY been able to take for granted in the US. The theme of this year’s United Nations World Water Day is “Valuing Water,” calling on individuals and nations to assess the complex multiple values water holds in our lives, health, culture and economies and making decisions to protect, restore and manage it accordingly.

A strong focus of this year’s celebration is achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” by the UN’s target date of 2030. The SDG’s are all very ambitious, including eliminating poverty in all of its forms by 2030 (SDG #1), but they are all rooted in achieving long overdue justice for all of Earth’s people. While the extreme impact of Covid-19 on health, economies and even culture has pushed us all further back on many of these goals, now is the time to recommit to the shared work and increasing funding to achieve them!