Our world is awash in water, yet one of the world's greatest challenges is providing drinking water for everyone. What most of us don't know is that drinking water already is scarce in many parts of the world.

Even in a water-challenged area like West Texas, we are not yet in critical usage needs. However, that will become one of our great challenges as the years go by. It's important that we plan for these needs now rather than when the critical stage is reached.

Unfortunately, that critical stage already has been reached in other parts of the world. A United Nations report recently stated that "More people die from polluted water every year than from all forms of violence, including war."

It's a sad commentary that humans are dying from polluted water. That means people all over the world don't have easy access to the basic need of clean drinking water. When access isn't available for potable drinking water, people will drink whatever is available.

In many cases, that means drinking waste water that includes fertilizer run-off, sewage and industrial waste. These waste fuels also spread disease and damages ecosystems, according to the U.N. report.

This is a global problem that is not being properly addressed and the numbers really horrify us. We just read a report from the U.N. Environment Program that estimates 3.7 percent of all deaths are attributed to water-related diseases, translating into millions of deaths. More than half of the world's hospital beds are filled by people suffering from water-related illnesses.

If this world is to survive, we will eventually have to learn to control waste water better than we do now. It's not all a bleak outlook because some amazing work is being done. The United States has done a better than average job of managing wastes of all kinds. At least, America has a good record in comparison to the rest of the world. We could still do better.

Also, improved wastewater management in Europe has resulted in significant environmental improvements, according to the UNEP, but it also noted that dead zones in oceans are still spreading, including the Gulf of Mexico.

We have much more to do in this area and it should at least bring some added focus to us here in the Permian Basin. Our water reserves are precious and we should protect them with great vigor.