GEF

Unit 1  |  Why Water Matters 17 Governments can work to positively impact water use to pro- mote sustainability on a global scale. Recognizing your own relationship with water can help you make choices to positively impact water use on a personal level. Access to fresh drinking water is vital to sustainability. 1.2  History, Civilization, andWater Water has been central to humanity long before people orga- nized themselves into towns and cities. A widespread creation story that recounts the origin of life and of people from water is supported by modern scientific understanding of the begin- nings of life on Earth. Prehistoric humans relied on freshwater and saltwater resources to provide drinking water and food. They often survived by hunting migratory animals that fol- lowed seasonal water resources across the landscape. The first large-scale permanent settlements grew around important rivers: Mesopotamia around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Egypt around the Nile, China around the Yellow River, and India around the Indus River. These rivers flooded their banks seasonally, providing life- giving water and nutrients to the surrounding floodplain.