Frances Beinecke Quotes

In our wildest dreams we never thought water would be a zero-sum game.

Conservation programs are great but when you’ve already done all the conservation and you got no water, how does that help you? It doesn’t. The only thing that could help us now, is water.

It's tough to know the value of water until it's gone.

Some of the areas in China have been under very grave water scarcity: for example, the north China plain; they are facing a very serious water shortage. Per capita levels have dropped to very serious levels, including in Beijing.

As someone who has grown up living in Southern California, I know all too well about the costs and scarcities of water.

Israel is thirsting for water, and Turkey is overflowing with it.

At about 9.5 billion people, the world will run out of fresh water.

I'm definitely writing my fears. It's almost therapeutic to at least voice a terror, to say, 'I'm worried that Lake Powell looks low and Lake Mead looks even lower.'

For many of us, clean water is so plentiful and readily available that we rarely, if ever, pause to consider what life would be like without it.

Water is a finite resource that is essential in the advancement of agriculture, and is vital to human life.

In 2000, twice as much water was used throughout the world as in 1960. By 2050, half of the planet's projected 8.9 billion people will live in countries that are chronically short of water.

Having lived in the arid deserts of Southern California since the 1970s, my interest in water conservation is a very personal concern. Water! The source of life! Some people are squandering the world's most precious resource while others have too little clean water to drink.

Few if any countries understand the growing importance of water as fully as Turkey does.

The problem in Afghanistan is really not so much land as water. It's a dry country with ample amounts of water running through it, but not to good enough effect.

Mankind runs a major risk of the shortage of fresh water. Water is a major source of life but could well be a major source of conflict.

We must treat water as if it were the most precious thing in the world, the most valuable natural resource. Be economical with water! Don't waste it! We still have time to do something about this problem before it is too late…. The shortage of fresh water is the major ecological problem of this moment.

I have little need to remind you that water has become one of our major national concerns.

More than half the world’s people live in countries where water tables are falling.

No water—no jobs.

There is enough water ... but the systems we have in place do not have enough flexibility to move water to the places where it is most needed.

Heedless exploitation of depletable ground water supplies endangers food production and other essential human systems. Heavy demands on the world's surface waters have resulted in serious shortages in some 80 countries, containing 40 percent of the world's population. Pollution of rivers, lakes, and ground water further limits the supply.

The issues that we're having with water are worse and the magnitude is bigger than anything I imagined possible.

Unlike other essential goods, like clothing, shelter, or food, we take cheap or even free water for granted. It often takes a crisis, such as a major drought or flood, to spur investment and policy reforms in improving water security.

Water is one of the most basic and vital requirements for survival. And with the issue of water shortage aggravating every single day, it's just something I felt we had to address and spread the message on whatever level we can.

As with oil, water exploitation raises an inter-generational debt that will be hard to repay.