As an essential component of the global ecosystem, water sustains human, animal, and plant life. Within the human community, the availability of usable water determines overall health, economic well-being, and cultural development. There is a lot of water on our planet, but we use a lot of it also—for drinking, bathing, health care, and sanitation; for agriculture and raising livestock; for commercial uses, industrial processes, and mining; for recreation; and for electric power generation, both thermoelectric and hydroelectric, and other renewables as well.