While children in school are taught that water is continually recycled and that none of it leaves the earth's atmosphere, this does not mean that water is not being rendered unusable or that the planet will not run out of fresh water. By the year 2025, there will be 2.6 billion more people on Earth than there are today. The combination of increasing demand and shrinking supply has attracted the interest of global corporations who want to sell water for a profit. Actions against this trend should be informed by three global principles, says this article in YES magazine. One is water conservation. The second principle is that water is a fundamental human right in that people need water to live. The third principle is water democracy. "We cannot leave the management of our most precious resource in the hands of bureaucrats in government or the private corporations, whether or not they are well intentioned. We, the people, must preserve this special trust, we must fight for it, and we must take our proper role and demand water democracy."