Farmers drill deeper and deeper in search of water, one of the indispensable elements of their trade. Too many of us are at the trough for sources not to be depleted. South of our home wells have pulled so much fresh water out of the ground, the Pacific is filling the void.
What happens to the land when we drain the water veins deep below the surface? Does the top soil start to developer crows feet? Does the temperature of the surface flesh rise more easily and cool more slowly? I sometimes feel like a thief when I drink our water.
The process of fracking (aptly named for its similarity to a another word I'm sure we're all familiar with) takes the issue of deep water further than anything I could have dreamed up in my worst nightmare. Blowing water loaded with chemicals into natural gas deposits deep in the earth is like shooting raw sewage into your own veins. Not only does it poison our ground water, infect aquifers, turns out it might also be causing earthquakes.
Of course amphibians are especially sensitive to what we do with our water. The mainstream press is starting to pick up on the mass amphibious extinction going on. Scientists have targeted 100 amphbians that have suddenly disappeared. They're trying to prove themselves wrong, locate at least a few remaining specimens. They're failing miserably. I wonder how much of the loss is because of how we use and misuse our water?
Having your own well makes you aware of water in new ways. For example we use a tremendous amount of water just to move our pooh a few hundred feet into a septic tank. Its not about a single flush. If the only water going into the septic were our toilet water, nothing would get anywhere. We need to wash our dishes, do the laundry and take a few showers before our latest gift to the earth has made it all the way down into the septic system.
Toilets are not built directly over a septic tank, they're ridiculously inefficient ways to move anything solid anywhere. Strange that we use one of our most precious resources to transport our waste. When you use water to move something toxic, you take the water out of the ecosystem (at least the immediate biosphere) until its had a chance to get cleaned up. Water should be kept in the loop. Free the water.
Once you've taken ahold of water you've got to have energy to keep things moving. No power = no well pump, no well pump = no water. Imagine if you couldn't flush the toilet when the power went out. Hmmmmm, whats one of the first things to go out when fire rages near your home? Electricity! Natch. Well water = electric consumption.
Thats why smart people buy huge plastic tanks and fill them with thousands of gallons of water - partly to have enough for normal use, but also to have enough when the power goes out or a fire hits the area. We don't have a cistern, the previous owners sold ours. Natch.
We should go out to buy another big green tank but I've come to really hate plastic tanks. They seal up the water, keeping it from the land, baking it in plastic, killing all life and infusing it with petroleum. I'm into free water.
We'll be developing a poured concrete cistern this summer, unless we're able to buy the old redwood tanks at the derelict nursery around the corner. Either way I figure we can circulate our water on the land for at least eight months out of the year, maybe more during wet years. I'm willing to let go of the hottest months, whats the use of harvesting water if you're just evaporating it?
My plan requires rain catchment, something we're still coming up to speed on. Our new cob studio has untreated cedar shingles, we'll be able to use that water to feed our plants, once the shingles have had a season to cure. Next big job will be getting the asphalt shingles off the main roof. That should be worth at least 10,000 gallons of water per year, if we can store it all.
If we have an open, circulating water way on the land it will attract more frogs, toads and salamanders - we've spotted quite a few already. Some people would say this is creating a false habitat, not a native water source. I say, share and share alike. Nobody owns the water. I'd rather raise amphibians than move pooh any day.
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| well pump and cedar shingled cob studio |
