Friday, July 29, 2022

The Drenched and the Parched

This country is no longer divided between Blue and Red. We are now either Green or Brown depending on which side of the Mississippi you find yourself; flooding in Kentucky, drought in California. The soaked versus the parched. If they would only share their rainwater, we’d gladly give up a piece of our sun. After all it’s our El Nino that produced much of their deluge.

Never mind the Keystone oil pipeline. We thirst for their lakes. They have five of them, all Great and could spare a couple. Fair is fair. We’re even getting nostalgic for puddles. We’ve lost our lawns and worse, our aquifer. Soon California will look like the color of pebbles. One day, in my next incarnation, I may end up a flower with my dry throat open. 

While all this time their flower beds are soggy, blossoms wet and wild overrunning the fields fully quenched, wetlands welcoming migratory visitors, swamps swampy, windshield-wipers pendulating, umbrellas dripping, ball games rained out, downpours on picnics, air so thick you could climb it.

This could be pay-back for all the water-boarding we did.  Zeus works in mysterious ways ever since he turned over the watery realm to Poseidon, famous for his temper tantrums. No wonder Zeus fell from grace off Mt. Olympus, like Sisyphus' stone. 

Recent wars in Sudan and Rwanda, have water sources as a major cause. Yemen is both the poorest and driest country in the Arab world. The Middle East which comprises 5% of the world’s population relies on just 1% of available fresh water. Water is a far more precious commodity than oil in that region; the gush from springs more valued than spurts of the gooey stuff. 

Water, water everywhere and not a drop.... Only 1% of Earth's water is fit to drink. The rest is either in the briny sea or frozen in ice caps. In the not-too-distant future we may find ourselves engaged in water wars…and not fought with water pistols. 

Desalination may be an answer but cost and environmental damage have been great challenges. The largest such plant in the Western Hemisphere is up and running in Carlsbad providing 50 million gallons of water per day to San Diego County. The water use in this country is indefensible. The average American accounts for an unconscionable 82 gallons/day (is that possible?) compared to 5 gallons for Africans. Of course, these figures include agriculture, industrial use and golf courses. 

It has been 109 years since we drained dry the Owens River with the first aqueduct, thanks to lies, bribery and an occasional murder. Of such stuff Academy Award movies are made.

Mea Culpa for all the water I’ve let go down the drain in my lifetime (until recently) while brushing teeth. Then there are the long showers I took while singing arias from Gilbert & Sullivan. The drippy faucets I didn’t get new washers for. The fire hydrant water in sweltering July NYC I sloshed around in my early days. And that extra ice cube I didn’t really require in my vodka & tonic. Next time I promise to hold the rocks.

 If there is music in all this I cannot end the riff on such a frivolous note. Yet it is not quite a dirge. Los Angeles is a rescued desert. It could revert back to where it was. But aridification is part of the larger issue of our failure as stewards of this planet. Let me hear that trumpet. Better yet make it Handel's Water Music. 

Waterboy,

Where are you hiding?

If you don’t come real soon

I'm gonna ...........

                                                                  (Gospel, Work Song)

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