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The health of a river is vital for a region because not only does it affect the health of the people who use its water for drinking and cooking purposes but it also affects the lives of the living creatures that live in it and around it. Its water should be clean enough to drink using simple filtration and purification methods and not pose a health risk.

There is interdependence between the habitat and the ecosystems that rivers provide which plays an important part in the human food chain and it is therefore vital that this food chain stays healthy. A healthy river provides adequate growing conditions for the living creatures that live in it so that in turn they can provide food for humans who depend on them for their food. The lives and continuity of other animal species and bird life also depend on it so that they can continue to breed successfully in the future.

Agriculture is the main source of income for most rural communities which means that if the water supply is insufficient or unhealthy, neither the crops nor the animals that sustain the community will be able to survive. Irrigation and other agricultural processes depend on water that rivers provide in order for homes, farms and businesses to flourish around them successfully. If this does not happen then it can prove disastrous for the vitality of the entire region which will lose an important source of sustenance and survival for its people.

There are several things that need to be taken into consideration to ensure that a river stays healthy. There are no proper sanitation systems set up in poor countries and a lack of toilets and latrines causes sewage to flow directly into the river. Unhygienic rivers in poor countries are breeding grounds for water borne and parasitic illnesses like dysentery, malaria and cholera which can cause illness and death. Ill health affects the economic progress of the country as it stops people from earning a living and supporting their family units. The result can be poverty and hunger and in current times Zimbabwe is providing us with the perfect example of a country that is coming to a halt because of its cholera epidemic. In its case, unfortunately, apart from the lack of proper sanitation facilities there are other factors including corruption that have an added hand to play in aggravating the situation for its local population.

The activities of large corporations should be regulated so that they are not allowed to deposit toxic wastes and other pollutants in the

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