More than a billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water, and their numbers are growing. To make matters worse, 40 percent of Earth's inhabitants -- nearly 3 billion people -- have no sanitation services, often forcing them to sully the little fresh water they have. In the United States, copious rains finally have brought relief to many water-starved parts of the country, but the West and Southwest continue to suffer from last year's severe drought. The drought has intensified the ongoing struggle between thirsty urban centers in the West and rural communities fighting cities' efforts to tap their pristine rivers. Environmentalists say conservation can alleviate the water shortages, but others contend privatization of water supplies and more investment in technology offer the most hope.

Mary H. Cooper specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues. Before joining CQ Researcher as a staff writer in 1983, she was a reporter and Washington correspondent for the Rome daily newspaper l'Unita. She is the author of The Business of Drugs (CQ Press, 1990). She also is a contract translator-interpreter for the U.S. State Department. Cooper graduated from Hollins College in English.