Introduction

A river is water in its loveliest form, rivers have life and sound and movement and infinity of variation, rivers are veins of the earth through which the life blood returns to the heart. ¹

Roderick Haig-Brown, the author of these lines, lived on Canada's West Coast. He could not imagine life without his beloved rivers. For water is life. Without it, we cannot exist, nor can any of the other forms of life with which we share the planet.

That should be reason enough to value water as one of the most precious riches that the earth provides. But water gives more than life; water contributes meaning to our lives, as an essential part of what makes life worthwhile.

"Meaning" cannot be measured and classified, but it can be expressed in art. Writers, artists and musicians have been inspired by water, using their works as media for communicating its more abstract value.

Indeed, water's value to the human spirit has been celebrated throughout the history of the world. One of the planet's earliest civilizations, known as Sumer, had celebrations exalting water and the life it supports. Many ancient artifacts have been discovered which reveal this long-time recognition of the renewing properties of water. One such work of art is a 4 500 year old sculpture depicting an ancient prince named Gudea holding a bowl from which flows a stream rich in fish. Literature, too, is full of references to the importance of water. For two thousand years the passage "He leadeth me beside the still waters, He restoreth my soul" has often been quoted from inspirational literature.

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