The first law of thermodynamics states that ae = q - w. is this also a statement of the principal of conservation of energy?

The first law of thermodynamics is concerned with the conservation of energy. The main point in this law is that the change in internal energy is equivalent to the heat, which flows into the system minus the work is done. This is the same as considering that if one applies heat to the system, then the system may accumulate it as internal energy or use it to do the work.

it is important to conserve water because there is very limited amount of freshwater here on earth and if we are not smart about how we use it we will only be runnning out of our supply faster than neccessarry.

not clear