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Lake Tanganyika in the village of Nkongwa, Tanzania.
Women and children wash Lake Tanganyika in the village of Nkongwa, Tanzania. © © Ami Vitale

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Forecast: Change

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Seventy percent (70%) of the world is covered by water, yet less than one percent (1%) of it is accessible and drinkable.

Many places in the world do not have enough water to meet their daily needs; in other places the water supply is contaminated from pollution and sediment. The availability and quality of that water supply depend heavily on protecting and conserving water at its source—the rivers, lakes, wetlands, forests and other ecosystems that collect, filter and transport water to people.

That's why The Weather Channel, IBM, and The Nature Conservancy are teaming up to help provide clean water for those in need. To highlight the water scarcity issue facing our planet, The Weather Channel has launched an awareness initiative called Forecast: Change. Meanwhile, the IBM Corporate Service Corps is also working closely with TNC to develop and enhance clean water solutions and operations.

A Closer Look at TNC's Water Work

A woman washes clothes in the Ayampe River in Ecuador’s Manabí Province. The Ayampe River has many responsibilities beyond its ecological role. It also supports the life of the communities within its watershed. The Conservancy is working with local partners to develop a water fund to help protect this water source.
Washing Clothes in the Ayampe A woman washes clothes in the Ayampe River in Ecuador’s Manabí Province. The Ayampe River has many responsibilities beyond its ecological role. It also supports the life of the communities within its watershed. The Conservancy is working with local partners to develop a water fund to help protect this water source. © Erika Nortemann/TNC
Claudia Picone of the Conservancy staff (on right) listens to local water company staff discuss the topography surrounding Cachoeira Reservoir which has been deforested for agriculture, grazing and commercial timber operatons and is now set to be included in a massive tree planting project. The reservoir and surrounding watershed is part of Brazil's Cantareira system (the largest system of public water supplies in Latin America) which provides fifty percent of Sao Paulo's drinking water.
Cachoeira Reservoir Claudia Picone of the Conservancy staff (on right) listens to local water company staff discuss the topography surrounding Cachoeira Reservoir which has been deforested for agriculture, grazing and commercial timber operatons and is now set to be included in a massive tree planting project. The reservoir and surrounding watershed is part of Brazil's Cantareira system (the largest system of public water supplies in Latin America) which provides fifty percent of Sao Paulo's drinking water. © Scott Warren
Scene along the Verde River, Arizona’s only federally designated Wild and Scenic River. The Verde provides irrigation water for farmers and drinking water for nearly three million people in the metropolitan Phoenix area, in addition to the rural communities along its banks. Existing water demands have left some stretches of the river nearly dry. The Conservancy is taking an inclusive approach to reach creative solutions that include improved water management, to use modern infrastructure and technology to test concepts that can be used in other parts of the Colorado River Basin and to develop sustainable funding to implement the projects.
Verde River, Arizona Scene along the Verde River, Arizona’s only federally designated Wild and Scenic River. The Verde provides irrigation water for farmers and drinking water for nearly three million people in the metropolitan Phoenix area, in addition to the rural communities along its banks. Existing water demands have left some stretches of the river nearly dry. The Conservancy is taking an inclusive approach to reach creative solutions that include improved water management, to use modern infrastructure and technology to test concepts that can be used in other parts of the Colorado River Basin and to develop sustainable funding to implement the projects. © Erika Nortemann/The Nature Conservancy
View of raging river waters after a monsoon storm. The 10,000 acre Los Fresnos Ranch in Mexico represents the finest cienegas habitat in the San Pedro watershed; these protected, rare wetlands are an ecologically important fresh water source in the fragile San Pedro River system and, under a cross border TNC partnership between Arizona and Mexico, will be managed to support diverse wildlife and endangered species reintroduction, sustainable grasslands and ranching, drinking water, and essential conservation research, Arizona.
San Pedro Watershed View of raging river waters after a monsoon storm. The 10,000 acre Los Fresnos Ranch in Mexico represents the finest cienegas habitat in the San Pedro watershed; these protected, rare wetlands are an ecologically important fresh water source in the fragile San Pedro River system and, under a cross border TNC partnership between Arizona and Mexico, will be managed to support diverse wildlife and endangered species reintroduction, sustainable grasslands and ranching, drinking water, and essential conservation research, Arizona. © Pat Graham/TNC
Using a small boat to navigate along the banks of the Ohio and Tradewater Rivers, staff from The Nature Conservancy and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife tour the Big Rivers Phase II project located at the confluence of the two rivers in Crittenden County, Kentucky. The project will protect 4,285 acres providing watershed and water quality protection as well as guarding endangered, threatened and rare species recovery. Photographed from left to right; Terry Cook (the Conservancy's Kentucky State Director), Shelly Morris (Western Kentucky Project Director for the Conservancy), and Curt Devine (with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife).
Big Rivers Corridor Project Using a small boat to navigate along the banks of the Ohio and Tradewater Rivers, staff from The Nature Conservancy and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife tour the Big Rivers Phase II project located at the confluence of the two rivers in Crittenden County, Kentucky. The project will protect 4,285 acres providing watershed and water quality protection as well as guarding endangered, threatened and rare species recovery. Photographed from left to right; Terry Cook (the Conservancy's Kentucky State Director), Shelly Morris (Western Kentucky Project Director for the Conservancy), and Curt Devine (with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife). © Mark Godfrey/TNC
Samburu women collect water from a well built by Northern Rangelands Trust and the Nature Conservancy at the West Gate Conservancy in Northern Kenya. The Samburu people are pastoralists, whose livelihoods have traditionally been rooted in semi-nomadic herding across the rangelands of northern Kenya, but pressures increase on natural resources, grazing cattle has become a volatile livelihood as unpredictable drought and competition with protected wildlife for grazing becomes more frequent.
Collecting Water, Kenya Samburu women collect water from a well built by Northern Rangelands Trust and the Nature Conservancy at the West Gate Conservancy in Northern Kenya. The Samburu people are pastoralists, whose livelihoods have traditionally been rooted in semi-nomadic herding across the rangelands of northern Kenya, but pressures increase on natural resources, grazing cattle has become a volatile livelihood as unpredictable drought and competition with protected wildlife for grazing becomes more frequent. © Ami Vitale
× A woman washes clothes in the Ayampe River in Ecuador’s Manabí Province. The Ayampe River has many responsibilities beyond its ecological role. It also supports the life of the communities within its watershed. The Conservancy is working with local partners to develop a water fund to help protect this water source.
× Claudia Picone of the Conservancy staff (on right) listens to local water company staff discuss the topography surrounding Cachoeira Reservoir which has been deforested for agriculture, grazing and commercial timber operatons and is now set to be included in a massive tree planting project. The reservoir and surrounding watershed is part of Brazil's Cantareira system (the largest system of public water supplies in Latin America) which provides fifty percent of Sao Paulo's drinking water.
× Scene along the Verde River, Arizona’s only federally designated Wild and Scenic River. The Verde provides irrigation water for farmers and drinking water for nearly three million people in the metropolitan Phoenix area, in addition to the rural communities along its banks. Existing water demands have left some stretches of the river nearly dry. The Conservancy is taking an inclusive approach to reach creative solutions that include improved water management, to use modern infrastructure and technology to test concepts that can be used in other parts of the Colorado River Basin and to develop sustainable funding to implement the projects.
× View of raging river waters after a monsoon storm. The 10,000 acre Los Fresnos Ranch in Mexico represents the finest cienegas habitat in the San Pedro watershed; these protected, rare wetlands are an ecologically important fresh water source in the fragile San Pedro River system and, under a cross border TNC partnership between Arizona and Mexico, will be managed to support diverse wildlife and endangered species reintroduction, sustainable grasslands and ranching, drinking water, and essential conservation research, Arizona.
× Using a small boat to navigate along the banks of the Ohio and Tradewater Rivers, staff from The Nature Conservancy and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife tour the Big Rivers Phase II project located at the confluence of the two rivers in Crittenden County, Kentucky. The project will protect 4,285 acres providing watershed and water quality protection as well as guarding endangered, threatened and rare species recovery. Photographed from left to right; Terry Cook (the Conservancy's Kentucky State Director), Shelly Morris (Western Kentucky Project Director for the Conservancy), and Curt Devine (with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife).
× Samburu women collect water from a well built by Northern Rangelands Trust and the Nature Conservancy at the West Gate Conservancy in Northern Kenya. The Samburu people are pastoralists, whose livelihoods have traditionally been rooted in semi-nomadic herding across the rangelands of northern Kenya, but pressures increase on natural resources, grazing cattle has become a volatile livelihood as unpredictable drought and competition with protected wildlife for grazing becomes more frequent.

As the planet warms, we see an increase in extreme severe weather, flood and drought, diminishing the earth’s capacity to sustain clean water. Climate change equals water change."

Randi Stipes

Chief Marketing Officer of IBM Watson Media and Weather

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View of a multi-lane highway crossing a reservoir.

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Source Water Protection in Africa

TNC has a solution that allows people to invest in the protection of their water sources, improving the water outlook for cities like Nairobi, Cape Town and others across the continent.

By Matt Brown