Day after day, day after day, we struck, nor breath nor motion; as idle as a painted ship, upon a painted ocean. Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

"Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Something about those famous phrases have always stuck with me. The Earth is full of oceans, seas, glaciers, rivers, lakes, creeks, ponds, water holes and puddles, but it doesn't seem to be enough. As the mariner stares out at millions of gallons water, he knows he can't use any of it to save himself or his crew. Nothing is left but a desperate thirst.

I have a skewed perspective on the water supply. Living in the high desert of New Mexico, I'm in an area that receives 10 inches and less of annual rainfall. I don't have to worry about earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes or floods. The natural disaster in my area is much more subtle--drought. It sneaks up on the area with deliberate ease. A few months pass and it suddenly dawns on everyone that it hasn't rained in a long time. Forest fires explode in the mountain forests, dust deposits layers on buildings and people become more dazed than usual.

Water conservation used to be a topic I didn't worry about at all. I had more important causes, goals and issues. But while all those other causes became petty and superficial, water conservation has stayed with me. I shake my head when I see thousands of gallons spent on keeping desert lawns green. I cringe when I see someone turn on a faucet and walk away to do something else while it slowly becomes hot water. I sigh when I see people order water in a restaurant and take one sip.

In a recent South Park episode, the character Butters tried to flood the world by turning on the hose at his house and leaving it on. Hours later, he has successfully made his lawn soggy, but he still has a long way to go before the world feels his wrath. God flooded the world once and promised Noah that he world never do it again. Good thing, because nowadays New Mexico alone could suck down almost as much water as the Earth could dump on it.

In the Midwest, Northwest, Southeast, and New England, I'm sure water conservation is not a hot topic. Precipitation can be a serious burden, and people talk about rain with words like buckets and sheets. To have someone tell them that we are running out of water would cause more than a few guffaws, but I'm here to tell you that we are.

If you want to know what natural resource to invest in for the future, it ain't oil. It ain't natural gas. It ain't gold, silver or diamonds. Water is the key, and once we don't have it, we're screwed. Brazil has 1/3 of the fresh water in the world, so watch how important that place becomes in the next 200 years.

That's what I'm talking about here. The next 200 years. I know, I know. I'll be gone by then. So will you, and your kids, and everyone you have ever met. I hear all these people talk about the children, and how we need to raise them right. The children are our future, right? Well, the Earth is our future. In fact, the Earth is our past, present and future. If you want to know what will happen to the Earth without water, just look at Mars. The Red Planet isn't as much of a party place as it used to be when it had a little bit of water flowing.

So what can be done? A little conservation can go a long way. Low flow toilets, water your lawn at night so the soil can soak it all up, xeriscape that landscape, fill up jugs when you're waiting for the water to get warm, cover your pools when you don't use them, drink the water you order, use the water you have. Less waste, less waste, less waste.

It's actually pretty easy to change any wasteful water habits you have. Just be conscious of what you are doing. Be proactive about conserving water. It's a lot easier to save our supply while we still have it than to tackle the problem from the other way around.

Chris Jungle drinks water every single day.