I try to think about ways to draw the public to the story of the planet, and seashells are something we've always wanted to listen to. It's sort of i… - Cynthia Barnett

Nationally, water consumption peaked in 1980 and has dropped steadily, even as the economy and population have grown. That shift, in waterworks and minds, affirms Americans’ willingness to live differently once we understand how painless the better path is.

We know on issues such as climate change, there's a core group of deniers who are never going to change the way they think, and that's ok, because that's only 7 to 10 percent of the population. There's a core group of super-worried people who know exactly what's happening. Then there's a really large group in the middle, and those are the people science tells us we need to reach to be able to make a difference.

Here are three meaningful actions we can all take on water: Use less. Pollute less. And from our backyards to our cities, make places that leave room for water in nature...