Water, Water, Everywhere

Last week, a pipe froze and burst in the apartment unit downstairs from mine, flooding the first two floors, and the building's water was shut off for a day while the pipe was repaired. (Fortunately, it was potable water that flooded the building, or we would have been in an even worse situation.)

 

Having no water was upsetting and frustrating, but it put things into perspective for me. In many parts of the world, and even the country, there is no guarantee that water will come out if someone turns on a tap. 

 

In a September 2014 article, the L.A. Times reported that in Tulare County, a rural county in California's Central Valley, of the 7,300 residents of the community, almost 1,000 had no water—some hadn’t for months. Until last September, California was the only Western state that didn't regulate groundwater. Because of the ongoing drought, farmers drilled deep to get groundwater to use for irrigation, draining aquifers and sapping the groundwater supply—leaving residents like those in Tulare County with no water.

 

Fortunately, California recently enacted regulations to effectively end unrestricted groundwater pumping. The rules, which went into effect at the beginning of 2015, require the state’s Department of Water Resources to identify “high” and “medium” priority basins, and then establish local groundwater sustainability agencies and develop monitoring plans.

 

Next week, March 8-14, is National Groundwater Awareness Week. The National Ground Water Assn. offers some suggestions for how we can protect and conserve groundwater next week and every week. I encourage you to find ways to conserve water—I know that I won’t be taking it for granted anymore that turning on a tap means water will come out.