Water covers about two-thirds of Earth’s surface. Ninety-seven percent of Earth’s water is found in oceans, as salt water. Two percent is stored in glaciers, ice caps, and on snowy mountain ranges.
That leaves 1 percent of Earth’s water available to us for our daily needs. Much of that is in hard-to-reach places, but some is found in lakes, rivers, and streams.
Earth’s population is 7.6 billion and growing. Meanwhile, our water’s overall quality has declined. It is getting worse because of pollution, overuse, and problems tied to global warming.
Lakes are a resource none of us can take for granted.