Read 'n' Seed 4: Third quarter of the book, "Aqua Shock."

This is a picture from Jay Cook State Park near Duluth. The water used to be up to the tree, and the water level is almost down to nothing. Clear eye opener for me!



1. Read chapters 6-8; pages 135-209.

2. So just who exactly hold the power to say that you I can or can’t have water? Chapter 6, “America’s Water Gods” say that the power is distributed among a wide scale of people such as the state engineers teamed up with their directors of state departments of natural resources, watershed organizations, federal government, Army Corps, regional water boards, private individuals capitalizing on their water rights etc. Whew, that was a lot. Basically, it’s divided amongst people who run the country politically, those who have the knowledge to manage the water (scientists), and those who hold money power such as capitalists.

Water experts are proposing ideas to make conserving water a possibility for the future, but the ideas will take time, effort, money, and most importantly, coming out of denial. In efforts for this, these experts are also pushing for a type of water coalition composed of those who hold the political power over the water and those who hold the knowledge on how to conserve the water efficiently. Either way, access to water in the future will mostly lie in the hands of political officials, so vote wisely.

Water is becoming a commodity (economic good/ trade object) due to the rising price of it. The question is, should it be a commodity since many think it’s a God-given right? There isn’t an answer for that yet , but in the near future water costs are going to keep rising . This is largely due to infrastructure replacement needs. Some people are picking up on this and using water as a source of investment for stocks or capitalizing on water with out considering other peoples needs.

Chapter 8, “Can we save our water,” was my favorite chapter. This chapter gives a form of solution and what we realistically need to do to achieve that. While reading this, I about landscaping ideas that use little water, how we should recycle our water, what types water guzzling appliances should be replaced, and that we should start thinking of how we need water, not how we want water. The book wrapped up with saying that water isn’t an infinite source anymore so we better get our butts in gear to change.
3. The UN has hired a water czar, which is like an advocate ruler or leader for the water issue for the whole world. However, some water experts are saying that the water crisis doesn’t need a water czar, but rather we need a team effort of political officials and scientists to carry out what is best for the United States as a whole. That’s what Israel did. Even though they are a small country they have figured out ways to be sustainable with water for their country as a whole.

I’ve mentioned infrastructure in previous posts, but this is one of our keys to sustainability. This is basically the network of pipes and irrigation systems that deliver us our water. One of the biggest themes of the book for a solution is pointing out that our problem isn’t having to little water; it’s having a poor system that manages it. Daniel Williams, water expert, said that “we need a one-hundred year plan on a very large scale-state and continent wide, to ensure we have enough water to sustain ourselves rather than spend and incredible amount of money……..to ship water from point A to point B.”

The water costs are going up due to our weak areas, and certain people are jumping on this as an opportunity for money. A water bank, is a money exchange network where water rights are bought, sold, and traded. The economic view on water says that a shortage on water means there will be a greater demand, which drives the price up. Whoever is on the power side of the money decides if farmers get water for their crops. If those people with the water power say they own the water, including the rain, you better check the laws to make sure it’s legal to put our rain buckets so it’s not considered stealing.





The book speaks on our water needs vs. our water demands. Having a huge lawn that suck up a lot of water keeps water in the plants rather than bringing it back to the aquifers (underground water supply). A xieriscape is a form of landscaping that includes low maintenance vegetation that run on small amounts of water. I’ll post more websites down below in my blog to find out you can incorporate that into your garden.

4. Here’s an issue I read about from 2008. Detroit and Michigan were in a fued because the Canadians accused Detroit of “stealing Canadian” hundreds of billions of gallons of water over the past 40 years. This is because the river that Detroit’s major water provider is also 100 yards into the Canadian Border. This is why water issues get so murky on how to deal with them. There is hope for issues like this! The book did mention ways that humans can take water and recycle it to be put back upstream. In order to do this we need to make water conservation a priority.

Incorporating other countries ideas on water conservation could help too! Steven Maxwell, who is a water business expert, mentioned that water is a monopoly and other countries regulate the monopoly with some type of checks and balance. This works well, but America just hasn’t adopted this way of life yet.

If you’re into science, listen to this. A geoscientist has the idea to use old mothball warships into water desalination plants. Florida has figured out a way to use reverse osmosis on Everglade water to help meet their H2O demand. How’s that for recycling! Hearing things like this amaze me of what the human brain is capable of and how we can apply it to sustainability.

So overall, we know the crisis, but what can be done about it? These next steps include individuals and society as a whole.
Step1: (now that you’re out of water denial) What are your water needs and your water demands.
Does every house in Florida and Vegas need a swimming pool. Do we need to take hot baths? De we need carwashes?
Step two: Think of small ways to make a big difference
Try not to water the lawn or turn it into a xieriscape. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. Conserve on gas. Shorten up shower time. Turn electrical things off when they aren’t being use. Eat what you need. Go light on the animal products. If you are going to eat animal products, make what you need to avoid waste.
Step three: Keep water local.
Catch rain water and bring it back to the aquifer.
Treat waste water locally and return the clean treated water back into
ground.
Return water to dry damaged rivers and lakes.
Step 4: Politics
Vote for a representative that will stand up for water
If your representative isn’t educated on the topic, communicate about it to them, and let them know where you stand.

This affects everyone and anything that relies on water. Not only that, but we also will have a to start paying more for water regardless due to new infrastructure needs. In addition to this jump in cost, if we don't conserve water there will be even more of an increase in price due to careless methods of wasting. If this isn't done, we may have to go find water rather than watch t.v, go to the movies, or even class. If we don't have our basics down, the rest of life is going to be hard to manage.


This is worth our effort and energy. If we don’t have water, we don’t have life.