No, these aren’t the ruins of an ancient amusement park in Western China. These two water wheels on the Tashkurgan River are part of the irrigation system that helps keep the 13,000 or so residents of Tashkurgan supplied with fresh water even though the region receives less than 3 inches of precipitation each year. That reliable access to fresh water is one of the reasons this area has been inhabited for thousands of years and made it an important stop on the ancient Silk Road trade route. Highlighting the importance of fresh water is the goal of World Water Day, which falls on March 22 every year. This year’s theme is "Leaving no one behind." With over 2.1 billion people living without safe water at home, it’s one of the most ambitious of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Fresh water on the Silk Road
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Kjell Henriksen Observatory
-
Giving Tuesday
-
Canada s $20 view
-
Great Backyard Bird Count
-
Happy 300th, NOLA!
-
Mercury in retrograde
-
Why’s it called a spelling ‘bee,’ anyhow?
-
Sundance Film Festival opens in Park City
-
World Laughter Day
-
Get on your bike and ride
-
Where is this gorgeous peak?
-
International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, Harbin, China
-
The Cordillera de la Sal in the Cordillera Domeyko Range of Chile
-
Winter Olympics in Beijing
-
Feature Attraction: 85 years at the drive-in
-
Batten down the hatches
-
A big birthday for Big Bend
-
It s Independence Day in Mexico
-
A Carpathian Christmas celebration
-
Combating extinction with citizen science
-
Valentines Day
-
Muskoxen in Dovre-Sunndalsfjella National Park, Norway
-
Here comes summer
-
Why you should thank a nurse today
-
Celebrating 30 years of eye-opening images
-
Mardi Gras
-
A path lain with petals
-
High tide at the walled city
-
Roques de Benet, Els Ports Natural Park, Catalonia, Spain
-
Here we mark the price of freedom