Water is undeniably vital for human livelihoods and survival, as well as most forms of economic growth and production. It is vital for supplying water to drink, water for food, and its management is critical for sustaining human livelihoods and meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Yet, more than 1.4 billion people currently lack reliable access to clean drinking water, and 2.6 billion lack adequate access to sanitation (WWAP 2009). Water-related illness is also rampant among the poorest of the world’s poor-- with a child dying an average of every 15 seconds (WHO and UNICEF 2004). More than half of our planet’s wetlands have been lost, and freshwater biodiversity has declined 35% from 1970-2005, a much higher rate than the rate occurring in either the forest or marine biomes (Loh 2008; MEA 2005b). Our activities impact the ecosystems and natural processes required to generate supplies of clean fresh water, further threatening human livelihoods as well as hundreds of thousands of freshwater dependent species.