The availability, cost, and quality of water supplies are critical concerns for military installations and military operations within the United States and around the world. Military installations depend on reliable and secure sources of water to ensure mission execution, to both sustain humans and to support industrial and operational processes. Of equal concern is the increasing interdependence of water and energy supplies, in which water is required to produce energy and energy is required to provide water.

Demand for water for all sectors in the United States is met primarily by surface water and groundwater resources. Water demand is expected to increase with population and economic growth in various areas, including those susceptible to drought. In many regions, surface water resources are already fully allocated under non-drought conditions and groundwater withdrawals exceed the rate of recharge. Withdrawing water without recharge leads to declining groundwater storage, sea water intrusion in coastal aquifers, and, in some cases, land subsidence. State water managers in 40 out of 50 states expect freshwater shortages to occur in their states in the next 10 years.