Every year on March 22, we celebrate World Water Day and remember that while water is a vital resource, it is unfortunately still not available to all.
World Water Day was established in 1992 at the initiative of the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of water to our lives and the need for its sustainable use. This year, the UN 2023 Water Conference will also be held from March 22-24, with many countries joining forces to try to solve the water crisis. Although about 70% of our planet is water, only 2.5% of it is freshwater, of which only 1% is available for use. Water is not evenly distributed across the globe, leaving nearly 2.5 billion people without access to safe drinking water today. Therefore, the theme of this year’s celebration calls us to accelerate change and that each of us must do our small part to achieve the changes we want to see in the world in terms of conserving water and ensuring its availability to all.
On this day, each of us should reflect on how we are doing in this time of water crisis. Do we just stand by and observe what is happening around us, or do we act as we can? Many will say that our individual efforts are small and insignificant, but the actions we all take can ultimately help solve the water crisis. See the pages https://www.unwater.org/bethechange/ to see what everyday actions we can take to do our part.
Water in Plitvice Lakes National Park
In Plitvice Lakes National Park, water plays a particularly important role. It creates tufa barriers, waterfalls and lakes, provides a home for numerous plants and animals, and serves drinking water and other human needs.
Waterfalls from Lake Malo jezero 
Trout is a permanent inhabitant of the Plitvice waters
To ensure the richness of our waters in the Park in the future, but also on a global scale, every drop of water is important and every smallest activity we do to preserve it.
Dobriša Cesarić: Waterfall
It flows and flows, flows the waterfall
Does my little drop make any difference at all?
Look, a rainbow appears in it
And in a thousand colours it appears shivering and lit!
That dream lighted up in the waterfall
And my drop helped to weave it all.
(translated by Toni Šimundža)
One of the drops that help weave the waterfall is educating others about the importance of water and the need to conserve it. Therefore, this year we will also hold workshops on this topic with eighth grade students from Plitvička Jezera Elementary School and Dr. Eugen Kvaternik Elementary School.
