One topic when talking about protecting the environment is that a lot of water is used in, for example meat. But isn’t water in a cycle within a closed system? I drink it / but it into plants or animals and after I consume it, the water gets released again.
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The water you use will generally end up in a river, then the sea. It will evaporate and return as rain. Today’s rain-pattern may result in the rain being where it’s not helpful and missing where it would be needed by plants and animals alike.
*However*, the water you use is often not rain-water (treates surface-water from a lake or a stream) but ground-water, water from deep down that filtered through the earth in a process taking decades or centuries. Groundwater is often depleted much, much faster than it’s replenished.
You see the problem by now, I guess.
Also, pumping water for use lowers the level of (closer to surface) ground water, making it harder or even impossible for plants (like deep-rooting trees) to reach it.
Finally, pumping, treating and possibly heating water costs energy.
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