In Minecraft, it is likely that there will come a time when you must travel to a snowy biome for certain tasks or materials. Or, maybe, you just want a nice snow-surrounded build. If you find yourself building in this biome, you may also find your water sources will frequently freeze too.

This will cause you some inconvenient issues. Your crops will struggle to grow, you won't be able to do any fishing, and you won't have access to a nearby infinite water source. Fortunately, though, there are a couple of solutions to this problem -- all of which are compatible with all versions of Minecraft.

What Causes Water in Minecraft to Freeze?
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As per the official Minecraft Wiki, water source blocks placed in a snowy biome will, in due course, freeze into ice if directly exposed to the sky above. This is because the light level directly adjacent to the water blocks (on all sides) is less than 13. The freezing can happen during any time of day and during any weather too.

Additionally, if you're at an altitude that is high enough for snowfall, water will also freeze into ice in biomes that are this cold. So, how do we stop that?

[b]How Do You Prevent Water in Minecraft from Freezing?[/b]
If you're running into the issues mentioned above, there are two ways in which you can prevent water from freezing around your build.

Use Blocks or Slabs
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The first, and perhaps most obvious way, to prevent your water source from freezing is to stop it from being exposed to the light above. You can do this by placing a block or slab above the water, keeping it covered.

For this to work, it is solely the area above your water source that needs to be blocked. Therefore, your choice of block or slab (and its size) does not matter either.

Use Torches
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The next method for preventing your water source of interest from freezing is by surrounding it with a source of light or fire. The most popular choice would be to use torches, but you may use lanterns too. You can line up your torches (or lanterns) alongside your water source and you will have a small river or pond to work with.

This is perhaps the more visually pleasing way to keep your water from turning into ice. Having a nearby light source is arguably much nicer-looking than having your water source covered in additional blocks.

And with that, you should now be able to have an active water source that doesn't freeze anymore. Happy farming or fishing!