Addressing Water Illiteracy

Water cycle illustration courtesy of US Geological Survey

The US Geological Survey just announced the availability of the new water cycle graphic portrayed above. Upon its release, Tanya Trujillo, Department of the Interior assistant secretary for water and science remarked, “So much about the water cycle is influenced by our actions, and it’s important that we clearly see the role that each of us can play in sustainable water use amid a changing climate.”

A noble intention, to be sure. But I’m not sure this particular type of illustration will do much to help us “clearly see the role that each of us can play in sustainable water use…..”

Don’t get me wrong: As a water scientist, I’m always happy to see new efforts to advance understanding of our world, and I’m sure this new graphic will be quite useful in environmental science classes. I’m very grateful to USGS scientists for their excellent work in this regard. But 95% of non-scientific viewers will not give it a passing glance, and won’t take time to read the excellent explanatory caption that accompanies this graphic, simply because at first glance it appears too complicated.

To catch the attention and comprehension of the masses we need other water communications — in a variety of written, graphical, and audiovisual formats — that are much, much simpler. The vast majority of our fellow human beings are unfortunately illiterate on water issues and concepts, and it’s going to be really difficult to engage them in big issues such as water scarcity or climate change if we can’t build their understanding from the ground up, using terms and concepts they can comprehend easily.

It is very difficult to find water educational materials written at an introductory level. But they are badly needed.

A decade ago, The Nature Conservancy commissioned a survey of Americans to test their knowledge of where their water comes from. More than three-quarters of respondents had no idea, and half of those that thought they knew were wrong.

It took me far too long to realize that many of the words and concepts I was using in my own public presentations were unfamiliar and confusing to my audiences. When I started teaching a Water Sustainability course at the University of Virginia a decade ago, I would begin every semester with a pop quiz on the first day to test the incoming students’ understanding of words such as watershed, aquifer, estuary, precipitation, water scarcity, water cycle, water footprint, desalination. I’ve run this experiment in 11 semester classes now, and the majority of students fail to define these basic water terms adequately on the first day of class. Mind you these are some of the best and brightest university students in the country; it’s damned tough to get accepted into this college. My final exams, which I refer to as “water literacy tests,” tell me whether I’ve been successful in improving my students’ comprehension of these basic concepts in our water world.

The first-day pop quiz results from my classes helped me to understand that I should not assume anything about my audience’s comprehension of water terms, concepts, processes. I wrote my “Chasing Water” book as a means to aid teaching about basic but important water concepts because I couldn’t find many other water educational materials written at an introductory level.

I’ve learned that if we introduce the language of water using the simplest possible terms from the beginning, we can quickly build water literacy. That learning process needs to begin early, in elementary schools, and reinforced throughout our lives. That includes the way that media stories communicate water issues.

Given the water crises mounting in today’s world, we’re going to need an informed global citizenry capable of helping us move toward water sustainability.