The emergence of drought in Georgia, dwindling Great Lakes levels, and the fierce competition for water in the American West are part of a complex, urgent water crisis unfolding across the globe.

"Water is the axis issue that intersects the world's greatest challenges, from health, poverty and security to climate, immigration and environment, even financial and commodities markets," said J. Carl Ganter, director of Circle of Blue, the new journalism, research and collaborative project covering water issues worldwide. "We're just beginning to grasp the stresses on our world's water supplies. Our imperative as journalists, scientists and communicators is to gather comprehensive information from the front lines of this complicated issue - to understand where we are, where we're headed and what we need to do."

Circle of Blue today asks the public for help in identifying assignment locations for its expanded coverage around the world, and invites people to participate by submitting their own reports.

Circle of Blue plans to report 150 comprehensive multi-media stories of the crisis, covering the challenges and solutions using world-recognized talents, and presenting the results online in new interactive ways with actionable data from diverse sources. Its Ford Foundation-funded pilot project in Tehuacan, Mexico, revealed severe drought and declining aquifers as a cause of illegal immigration to the U.S.

Increasing demand, declining supplies and human mismanagement are disrupting the economies, cultures and well-being of billions of people around the world, according to United Nations studies

In the U.S., water shortages are not entirely acts of nature, researchers say. They reflect the consequences and combination of many forces, including inefficiency, climate change, rapid development in arid regions and demand that defies nature's ability to keep pace.

"If our municipal water supplies shut off, we couldn't survive on the local water resources that we have," said Dr. Peter H. Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, the Oakland, Calif.-based water policy think tank. "They depend on our bringing water enormous distances. If that water stopped, we'd have to rethink our whole civilization."