6 Minute English / Saving water in the driest place on Earth

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Neil.

And I m Beth.

We all know how horrible it feels to be thirsty. Human bodies need around 3 litres of water a day, and thankfully most of us can just turn on the kitchen tap to get clean drinking water.

But globally, over two billion people, around a quarter of the world s population, live in water stressed countries, where access to water for drinking, cooking, and washing is not guaranteed. What s more, water is also needed to grow food and that s getting harder due to droughts which are increasing with climate change.

In this programme, we ll visit farmers in one of the driest places on Earth Yuma in the USA - where a new technology involving liquid clay is helping farmers grow fruit and vegetables in the desert. And, as usual, we ll be learning some useful new vocabulary too.

But first I have a question for you, Neil. Everyone knows that plants need sunlight and water to grow, but soil is just as important. One of the most useful soils is clay, a dense, smooth soil which is very fertile but sticky. Clay has been used in agriculture for thousands of years, but what is its more modern use? Is clay good for:

a) curing headaches?b) digesting food? or,c) smoothing face skin?

Hmm, I think clay can be used to smooth the skin on people s faces.

OK, Neil. We ll find out if that s the correct answer later. Lack of water and farming are closely connected. Agriculture uses a massive 70% of the world s fresh water supply, so ways to use water more efficiently are much needed. Ole Sivertsen s company, Desert Control, works with date farmers in Yuma, an area on the border of California and Mexico. One of the hottest places on Earth, Yuma has been experiencing its worst drought in 500 years, forcing farmers to pump water from rivers to grow their date palm trees.