#Water Conservation

[reasonsforhope]

Legit though, we should start turning ecosystem restoration and work to make our world more tolerant to the effects of climate change into annual holidays and festivals

Like how just about every culture used to have festivals to celebrate the beginning of the harvest or its end, or the beginning of planting, or how whole communities used to host barn raisings and quilting bees - everyone coming together at once to turn the work of months or years into the work of a few days

Humble suggestions for festival types:

Goat festival

Besides controlled burns (which you can't do if there's too much dead brush), the fastest, most effective, and most cost-efficient way to clear brush before fire season - esp really heavy dead brush - is to just. Put a bunch of goats on your land for a few days!

Remember that Shark Tank competitor who wanted to start a goat rental company, and everyone was like wtf? There was even a whole John Oliver bit making fun of the idea? Well THAT JUST PROVES THEY'RE FROM NICE WET PLACES, because goat rental companies are totally a thing, and they're great.

So like. Why don't we have a weekend where everyone with goats just takes those goats to the nearest land that needs a ton of clearing? Public officials could put up maps of where on public lands grazing is needed, and where it definitely shouldn't happen. Farmers and people/groups with a lot of acres that need clearing can post Goat Requests.

Little kids can make goat-themed crafts and give the goats lots of pets or treats at the end of the day for doing such a good job. Volunteers can help wrangle things so goats don't get where they're not supposed to (and everyone fences off land nowadays anyway, mostly). And the goats, of course, would be in fucking banquet paradise.

Planting Festival and Harvest Festival

Why mess with success??? Bring these back where they've disappeared!!! Time to swarm the community gardens and help everyone near you with a farm make sure that all of their seeds are sown and none of the food goes to waste in the fields, decaying and unpicked.

And then set up distribution parts of the festival so all the extra food gets where it needs to be! Boxes of free lemons in front of your house because you have 80 goddamned lemons are great, but you know what else would be great? An organized effort to take that shit to food pantries (which SUPER rarely get fresh produce, because they can't hold anything perishable for long at all) and community/farmer's markets

Rain Capture Festival

The "water year" - how we track annual rainfall and precipitation - is offset from the regular calendar year because, like, that's just when water cycles through the ecosystems (e.g. meltwater). At least in the US, the water year is October 1st through September 30th of the next year, because October 1st is around when all the snowmelt from last year is gone, and a new cycle is starting as rain begins to fall again in earnest.

So why don't we all have a big barn raising equivalent every September to build rain capture infrastructure?

Team up with some neighbors to turn one of those little grass strips on the sidewalk into a rain-garden with fall-planting plants. Go down to your local church and help them install some gutters and rain barrels. Help deculvert rivers so they run through the dirt again, and make sure all the storm drains in your neighborhood are nice and clear.

Even better, all of this - ESPECIALLY the rain gardens - will also help a ton with flood control!

I'm so serious about how cool this could be, yall.

And people who can't or don't want to do physical stuff for any of these festivals could volunteer to watch children or cook food for the festival or whatever else might need to be done!

Parties afterward to celebrate all the good work done! Community building and direct local improvements to help protect ourselves from climate change!

The possibilities are literally endless, so not to sound like an influencer or some shit, but please DO comment or reply or put it in the notes if you have thoughts, esp on other things we could hold festivals like this for.

Canning festivals. "Dig your elderly neighbors out of the snow" festivals. Endangered species nesting count festival. Plant fruit trees on public land and parks festival. All of the things that I don't know anywhere near enough to think of. Especially in more niche or extreme ecosystems, there are so many possibilities that could do a lot of good

[newyorkthegoldenage]

With the country now at war, Mayor LaGuardia launched a city campaign to conserve water. This was one of a number of ads (for the subway, presumably) designed by Earl Kerkam, ca. 1942.

Photo: LMPC/Getty Images/Zazzle

[toyastales]

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water

- LOREN EISELEY

[snekdood]

*casually posts this at the same time to further my agenda of growing native plants instead of grass and shitty ornamentals*

[typhlonectes]

[kp777]

Colombia and Ecuador fight to save vital wetlands amid drought

Reuters

Oct. 14, 2024

•Grassroots activists and international groups work to protect high-altitude wetlands

•Drought leads to water rationing in Bogota and power cuts in Ecuador

•Nurseries in Quito and Guatavita replant native species to conserve water

GUATAVITA, Colombia/PALUGUILLO, Ecuador, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Rural communities in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador are fighting to protect fragile high-altitude wetlands that regulate the area's water cycles, as sharp water and energy rationing hit both nations.

Read more.

[grubloved]

hey do you live in utah please take this survey!!! aug 2023

if you do please take this government survey about water usage, housing development, and public transit development in the near future!

particular things to watch for:

should we require low-water-use landscaping on new development

should we require existing wasteful landscaping for businesses and home developments be replaced with low-water-use landscaping

encouraging field fallowing -- currently utah's policy means a farmer can lose water rights on a field if they don't water it every year even if theyre not growing somwthing. fallowing would allow for people to let fields rest by not planting or watering on off years, massively reducing water waste

encouraging public transport in the form of fareless buses and trains, increasing pedestrian areas and bike lanes

reducing highway development thank god

developing dead malls and huge parking lots into more housing and pedestrian areas

please take it it's not terribly long and is pretty well formatted so it's easily digestible! utahs water policy and development has been ATROCIOUS lately this could really shape the future into something better. if u dont live in utah sharing would be appreciated <3

[uptodatehome]

Grey Water Recycling Systems: Your Guide to Sustainable Water Management at Home

As environmental awareness grows, homeowners and businesses alike are seeking ways to conserve resources and reduce their ecological footprints. One highly effective solution is implementing a grey water recycling system. Grey water systems allow you to reuse water from sinks, showers, and washing machines for non-potable purposes, reducing both water consumption and utility costs. In this…

[awehaven]

Stilled Life of Water.

©Robin Fifield 2024.

[bitstitchbitch]

I got emotional reading this. This is the kind of work we need. Working with nature instead of against it to reduce environmental disasters (in this case, it has the added benefit of helping groundwater levels). Working with indigenous groups to rewild land in a way that doesn’t cut human interaction out of the picture.

[reasonsforhope]

"Namibia is the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, and home to two of the world’s most ancient deserts, the Kalahari and the Namib. The capital, Windhoek, is sandwiched between them, 400 miles away from the nearest perennial river and more than 300 miles away from the coast. Water is in short supply.

It’s hard to imagine life thriving in Windhoek, yet 477,000 people call it home, and 99 per cent of them have access to drinking water thanks to technology pioneered 55 years ago on the outskirts of the city. Now, some of the world’s biggest cities are embracing this technology as they adapt to the harshest impacts of climate change. But Namibia leads the way.

How did this come about? In the 1950s, Windhoek’s natural resources struggled to cope with a rapidly growing population, and severe water shortages gripped the city. But disaster forced innovation, and in 1968 the Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant in Windhoek became the first place in the world to produce drinking water directly from sewage, a process known as direct potable reuse (DPR). 

That may sound revolting, but it’s completely safe. Dr Lucas van Vuuren, who was among those who pioneered Windhoek’s reclamation system, once said that “water should not be judged by its history, but by its quality”. And DPR ensures quality. 

This is done using a continuous multi-barrier treatment devised in Windhoek during eight years of pilot studies in the 1960s. This process – which has been upgraded four times since 1968 – eliminates pollutants and safeguards against pathogens by harnessing bacteria to digest the human waste and remove it from the water. This partly mimics what happens when water is recycled in nature, but Windhoek does it all in under 24 hours...

Pictured: These ultrafiltration membranes help to remove bacteria, viruses and pathogens. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke

“We know that we have antibiotics in the water, preservatives from cosmetics, anti-corrosion prevention chemicals from the dishwasher,” Honer explains. “We find them and we remove them.”

Honer adds that online instruments monitor the water continuously, and staff ensure that only drinking water that meets World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines is sent to homes. If any inconsistencies are detected, the plant goes into recycle mode and distribution is halted until correct values are restored. 

“The most important rule is, and was, and always will be ‘safety first’,” says Honer.  The facility has never been linked to an outbreak of waterborne disease, and now produces up to 5.5m gallons of drinking water every day – up to 35 per cent of the city’s consumption.

Namibians couldn’t survive without it, and as water shortages grip the planet, Windhoek’s insights and experience are more important than ever.

Interest from superpowers across the globe

In recent years, delegations from the US, France, Germany, India, Australia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates have visited Windhoek seeking solutions to water shortages in their own countries. 

Megadrought conditions have gripped the US since 2001, and the Colorado River – which provides 40 million people with drinking water – has been running at just 50 per cent of its traditional flow. As a result, several states including Texas, California, Arizona and Colorado are beginning to embrace DPR.

Troy Walker is a water reuse practice leader at Hazen and Sawyer, an environmental engineering firm helping Arizona to develop its DPR regulations. He visited Windhoek last year. “It was about being able to see the success of their system, and then looking at some of the technical details and how that might look in a US facility or an Australian facility,” he said. “[Windhoek] has helped drive a lot of discussion in industry. [Innovation] doesn’t all have to come out of California or Texas.”

Pictured: The internal pipes and workings of Namibia's DPR plant. As water becomes scarcer in some parts, countries are looking to DPR for solutions. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke

Namibia has also helped overcome the biggest obstacle to DPR – public acceptance. Disgust is a powerful emotion, and sensationalist ‘toilet to tap’ headlines have dismantled support for water reuse projects in the past. Unfortunately, DPR’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness, as the speed at which water can re-enter the system makes it especially vulnerable to prejudice, causing regulators to hesitate. “Technology has never been the reason why these projects don’t get built – it’s always public or political opposition,” says Patsy Tennyson, vice president of Katz and Associates, an American firm that specialises in public outreach and communications.

That’s why just a handful of facilities worldwide are currently doing DPR, with Windhoek standing alongside smaller schemes in the Philippines, South Africa and a hybrid facility in Big Spring, Texas. But that’s all changing. Drought and increased water scarcity worldwide are forcing us to change the way we think about water. 

Now, the US is ready to take the plunge, and in 2025, El Paso Water will begin operating the first ‘direct to distribution’ DPR facility in North America, turning up to 10m gallons of wasterwater per day into purified drinking water – twice as much as Windhoek. San Diego, Los Angeles, California, as well as Phoenix, Arizona are also exploring the technology."

Of course, DPR is not a silver bullet in the fight against climate change. It cannot create water out of thin air, and it will not facilitate endless growth. But it does help cities become more climate resilient by reducing their reliance on natural sources, such as the Colorado River. 

As other nations follow in Namibia’s footsteps, Windhoek may no longer take the lead after almost six decades in front.

“But Windhoek was the first,” Honer reminds me. “No one can take that away.”"

-via Positive.News, August 30, 2023

[loudlylovingreview]

Lauren Magliozzi: Urban wildfires disrupt streams and their tiny inhabitants − losing these insects is a warning of bigger water problems

A tiny, vibrant world thrives along the rocky bottom of most streams. As sunlight filters through the water, mayfly nymphs, no larger than your fingernail, cling to algae-coated cobbles. Their brushlike mouthparts scrape the greenish coating, leaving faint trails as they feed. Six spindly legs anchor them against the current, while feathery gills wave gently, drawing oxygen from the flowing…

[fanciedfacts]

DRINKABLE WATER IS A PRECIOUS RESOURCE

According to (UNICEF) estimated that 2 billion people around the world don't have access to drinkable water. But how drinkable is hard to find when earth is 71% of earth is water.

[bumblebeeappletree]

We meet a garden guru known for celebrating the diverse and unique flora of arid Alice Springs.

Geoff Miers is a garden legend who calls the heart of Australia home. He's passionate about coaching others to garden in arid conditions, and his career on ABC talkback radio has run for as long as Gardening Australia has been on the air. Over the decades, Geoff's also been growing and selling plants from his nursery and has learned a thing or two about coping with an arid climate.

"It's a desert environment; the climatic extremes are colossal," says Geoff with winter temperatures dropping below -8°C for weeks at a time and summer temperatures reaching 45°C in the shade. "We can have no rain for two months, three months, six months and then the Todd (River) will flow. You never know what's around the corner," says Geoff. "That's the exciting part; it's challenging. But if you understand and respect the environment, and work with the climate, you will have a fantastic garden." The NT has the highest population turnover in Australia and Geoff says, "constantly people are exposed to the new environment, and they need coaching, and that's where I try to play an important role."

In his nursery, Geoff sells citrus and other plants suitable for arid zones. He shows us plants with fine needle-like leaves that don't lose a lot of water through evaporation. One example, Acacia peuce or Waddywood, is a rare tree. Geoff says, "they'll grow for 500 years and once they are old you can't even put a nail in them, they're that tough. They have adapted to the most extreme environment anywhere in the world," says Geoff. The red mulga, Acacia cyperophylla is another one that's similar. Geoff says, "it's a hardy tree and it has this flaking, minni ritchi bark. It's just stunningly red and it's the most outstanding feature." Eremophilas are increasingly popular with many varieties of colour and fantastic blooms. Geoff says, "they are such a fantastic plant for diverse conditions, they are just stunning in terms of the floral display… and they'll grow in sand, they'll grow in even heavy clay." Geoff says his favourite is Eremophila macdonnellii 'Simpson Desert Form' because it has "flowers through spring, summer and autumn, is tolerant of a diverse range of soil conditions."

Geoff propagates thousands of plants each year at home, including 3,000 native lemongrass, 1,500 kangaroo grass or Themeda triandra, and several groundcovers. "They're bird attracting, bush tucker foods, suitable for this environment and the demand for them is endless," says Geoff. His propagation house has over 5,000 cuttings, "all starting to develop roots… before long all these plants will be in tubes and pots, and by next autumn and they'll be out in people's gardens," says Geoff. His own home garden is filled with central Australian plants with a towering ghost gum as the centrepiece. He says this tree "epitomises to me everything about central Australia, it's glorious." When the dog chewed through the irrigation lines 18 years ago, he turned the water off. "I now only water this garden in the first or second week of January and that's it. I give it five inches of water and that recharges the plants," says Geoff, "I try to demonstrate what I preach in my front yard; it's designed to suit this environment."

Appropriate gardens and water conservation is something Geoff has preached and written about for over 30 years. Geoff says, "that's been my message all along. With climate change, it was predicted that we would have greater droughts, greater floods, greater extremes of temperature. We're already experiencing that in central Australia, so you've got to be prepared for that. The best way to do that, is to create a garden that's best suited for the climatic extremes."