Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Happy in Montana:Thinking about water

Hungry Horse Resevoir courtesy of JohnHunterDesigns
I have a day off so I have time to wax philosophical. I was thinking about water. Without it we are history in about 3 miserable days . There have been wars over the control of water and probably will be in the future. Above is Hungry Horse Resevoir. How much water ? dunno , but a  lot. I could google it but the Dam below is 500 feet high. Now the funny story about this picture is my son and daughter in law were visiting so they walked across and took pictures. Unfortunately in this post 911 Era that is not allowed. If you were bad you could think of ways of playing havack with the Dam after going home and viewing the pics. Myself I am just dizzy looking at the picture. So any way I didn't see the sign saying " no cameras" until they were halfway across on foot and I was bringing up the rear with the car. My concern was to avoid fainting as I drove across. Those who know me well know my problem with vertigo. This was some aversion therapy. There is also a sign advising against sitting on the top of the wall. Why would anyone want to do that in the first place ?
Hungry Horse Dam courtesy of JohnHunterDesigns




So what is the big plan for water ? Do we just take it for granted until we have no more clean water. In America the Beautiful we have abundant clean water or have had historically. Now there are several cities ( mostly in TX and NM ) that have their city water supplies at risk. Much of the South West and Southern California exists on the good will of the Colorado River's generosity. Do we wait till we are in crisis or do we start in our own home and think of ways to conserve . Do we fix leaking pipes and water mains or we just wait till the sink hole forms and swallows a building ? Instead of expecting a large utility or city government to fix things why don't we look at home and be more locally responsible. It is nice to have large utilities but so much waste can be avoided. Additionally what are we putting into our water? Left over pharmaceuticals, herbicide runoff, giant agribusiness waste runoff and petrochemicals. How much can we push on our environment to absorb? At what point is the poisoning of the Earth irreversible? Small steps. Save water , use less chemicals , dispose of toxins properly at your central waste facility. Water is an incredible resource , vital for life , a gift. Please care for it wisely.

2 comments:

  1. excellent post - and really, who would sit on top? yikes!i had read it is better to put old meds in something absorbent like old cat litter. thankfully, have learned to keep it out of the water supply...

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  2. I know I would not be tempted to sit on the ledge . Although there are lots that like to sit in places like this . We need a concerted effort to keep our water clean and pharmaceuticals are a big concern. Too many are dumped down the drains.

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