Connected Cities Blog: Water is Life

By: Gary Lawrence, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at AECOM
Mar 24, 2014 11:00 AM ET
Campaign: Cities for People
Gary Lawrence, AECOM vice president and chief sustainability officer, discusses the value of water in his recent blog post in honor of World Water Day.

“We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.” -- Jacques Yves Cousteau

In the U.S., we don’t worry about water. It’s always been there — when we wash our hands, fill a glass, switch on the dishwasher, run a bath, take a shower. We don’t think about it; we just use it and forget about it. For city planners and engineers, water is a logistical problem, something that has to be cleaned, distributed and collected. Farmers probably spend the most time thinking about water. Irrigating crops and watering animals is an essential business function upon which their livelihood depends.

But what value do we place on this essence of life, industry and energy? How much time do we spend lying awake at night worrying about the cost of water? How many of us fret over the possibility that we may wake up one morning and find that water simply isn’t there?

Click here to read more from this blog post by Gary Lawrence, AECOM vice president and chief sustainability officer, in honor of World Water Day.

About AECOM
AECOM is a global provider of professional technical and management support services to a broad range of markets, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, water and government.  With approximately 45,000 employees around the world, AECOM is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves.  AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering solutions that create, enhance and sustain the world's built, natural, and social environments.  A Fortune 500 company, AECOM serves clients in more than 150 countries and had revenue of $8.1 billion during the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2013.  More information on AECOM and its services can be found at www.aecom.com.

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