Water is everywhere.
Reliable water isn't.
Clean, dependable water is one of civilization's most basic needs — and one of the defining challenges of the century ahead.
A global problem measured locally.
Population growth, aging infrastructure, drought, groundwater depletion, pollution and increasing demand from agriculture, industry and growing communities are placing pressure on water supplies around the world.
Yet water problems rarely look exactly the same from one place to another. One community may be watching a reservoir fall. Another may be dealing with contamination. A farming region may depend heavily on groundwater, while a coastal community may be concerned about saltwater intrusion.
People
Approximately 2.1 billion people worldwide still lack safely managed drinking water.
Worldwide
Roughly one person in four does not have access to safely managed drinking water.
U.S. Infrastructure
Estimated drinking-water infrastructure investment needed in the United States over approximately two decades.
America has water challenges too.
The United States has enormous freshwater resources and sophisticated treatment systems. But much of the infrastructure used to collect, treat and deliver that water is aging.
Communities face leaking pipes, stressed aquifers, drought, flooding, contamination, lead service lines, PFAS and other emerging contaminants — along with the rising cost of keeping safe water flowing.
There isn't one American water problem.
There are thousands of local water problems.
The world isn't short on water data.
Governments, utilities, universities, satellites, weather networks and monitoring stations collect extraordinary amounts of water information every day.
A measurement can tell us what happened today. A history can tell us whether something is changing.
WaterCoyote is being built to watch the water.
Our goal is to gather useful public water information, preserve its history, connect related measurements and make changing water conditions easier to see and understand.
Rivers & Reservoirs
Follow changing levels, flows, storage and regional supply conditions.
Groundwater
Preserve and compare information about wells, aquifers and long-term groundwater conditions.
Water Quality
Organize useful public measurements and indicators of changing water quality.
Drought & Rainfall
Follow the weather patterns that affect water availability and local conditions.
Supply & Demand
Look beyond a single number to understand the pressures placed on available water.
Long-Term Trends
Build a historical record that becomes more useful the longer WaterCoyote keeps watching.
Why a coyote?
A coyote survives by being observant, adaptable and persistent.
It pays attention to its surroundings, notices change and adapts to conditions.
That seems like a pretty good way to watch water, too.
Grounded in public information.
WaterCoyote is intended to build on credible public data from government agencies, research organizations, monitoring networks and other authoritative sources.
The figures referenced on this page include information from the UNICEF / WHO Joint Monitoring Programme and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
UNICEF / WHO Water Data • U.S. EPA Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey