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ayumii · 6 years ago

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New Orleans

from InterViews X, Ayumi Rahn, 2018

Because

your shoes are on your feet and your feet are on the street and this street is Bourbon Street.

overheard

The past is never dead. It‘s not even past.

William Faulkner

We open the blinds slightly and look outside, about shoulder height. Outside there is a car parked. A man staggers around the hood, he stops in front of the driver‘s door standing with his back towards us. He gets out his dick and supporting himself on the car top with his left arm he pees at the closed driver‘s door in front of him. He puts his dick back in, gets out his car key, unlocks the car door and drops down into the driver‘s seat. The door wide open, his feet still on the street, he dozes off, already far away in another place, his mouth hangs open, utterly stoned.

In the room, the air-conditioning is running as is a large fan on the ceiling, at least one meter in diameter for sure. Intuitively one imagines that here, every room, every smallest compartment, is provided with at least one of them. Here, south, hot and humid, so different that you doubt that this here belongs to the USA, to the United States, to the same United States to which New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Albuquerque belong. To which Donald Trump as well as Barack and Michelle Obama also belong. And the Mississippi River, that name always seemed to me as if it could have easily emerged from a fairy tale. Is there really such a thing as the Mississippi River? Does there exist such a thing? If someone would tell me, that in fact the Mississippi River has been created like the tale of Sleeping Beauty, for the sole purpose of telling a story. A kind of informative story, in this case a story of extraordinary dimensions, I wouldn‘t doubt it. The Mississippi River doesn‘t exist, it’s just a word, a made-up word. A confirmation that you don’t know anything, and you don’t understand either, because you never could get close enough or will you ever and for certain you will never be able to comprehend it all. It’s just so. While here, oversized fans are rotating.

They are rotating in the dark and noisy bars at Bourbon Street, full of music. Parallel to Bourbon Street, just a few blocks away, there lies the Moon Walk, the promenade along the Mississippi River. New Orleans. New Aaaw-lens, is a port city and Bourbon Street might be a kind of „Große Freiheit“ (the „Great Freedom“, a street in Hamburg) it seemed to me, although the scale is different. Drunks, tourists, party mood. Out of nothing, some tourists chat to us in German: In such and such bar, they serve the best Irish Coffee, and they are about to go there now. And, sure thing, the couple said, they also did a Plantation Tour. It‘s all part of the package. And after all they are already here for some days, and now they know their way around. Bourbon Street. Mississippi River. Moon Walk.

The Moon Walk. There, on Mardi Gras, carnival Tuesday, they spread the ashes of the deceased mixed with glitter into the river. While the ashes vanish in the water immediately, you can still see the glitter floating on the surface for a while. A new birth of sorts. In the middle of June, we are sitting on the stairs, looking at the water of the Mississippi River at our feet. A few hundred meters further along a steamboat is piping a swaying, husky melody with its full boiler, while the tourists stand in line waiting for the evening cruise. Broad stairs are leading down to the river, which sloshes against them with slow waves. So very sluggish seeming more like an ocean then a river. But wait, over there, don‘t you see? Is that a body sloshing back and forth and against the debris at the riverside? So very slow, almost with pleasure and without any refusal, back and forth with the waves, like only a lifeless body can slosh. A relatively large dead body, splish, splash, is it a dead seal? But how in the world did a seal get here?

Visiting a swamp is a main attraction. New Orleans had to be constructed, that was certain from the start. There was no way around it. At the mouth of such a big river, at the entrance of such a big country, there has to be a big city, an important city, let‘s say a metropolis. A fact, for sure. In the case of New Orleans, there was no doubt. First of all, wetlands had to be turned into land. You do what you can. The swamps must be drained, then a city can be built upon it. Yet still, giant pumping systems are continuously pumping water out of the swamps, on which the city stands. Otherwise, the city would turn into swamp, it would suck up water like a sponge. What an achievement. Marshland works as a natural defense to hurricanes. As they sweep through the swamps, they lose power. No swamp, no defense.

2005 The lower of Lower Ninth Ward, a district of New Orleans, is the same lower like in Lower Manhattan in contrast to Upper Manhattan. It has often been misinterpreted, that the Lower Ninth Ward is located lower beneath sea level than the rest of the city. In fact, it is just describing the area south of the Ninth Ward. The Lower Ninth Ward is within the area that had been most worst affected by the devastations due to Hurricane Katrina. But why? To protect from various risks- such as the missing swamp defense and the dangerous proximity to the Mississippi Gulf Outlet, the MRGO, which was built as a shortcut for the shipping industry. But working like a large funnel it leads storms directly into the city. To protect the city from several risks levees were constructed. Amsterdam, located below sea level like New Orleans, is protected from flooding by a levee. But what is the use of a levee, if it is built on mud. Against multiple and subsequent engineering failures none of it helps in the end. 2005 because of hurricane Katrina, the levees breach at several points. Instead of 17 meters as is required the levee was barely anchored to the ground. It is washed out and washed away. In 2005 between 1100 and 1800 people died in New Orleans because of Katrina. To this date there is still disagreement as to number of deaths.

There was a lot going wrong in 2005, not to say everything. About 20.000 people took refuge from the storm in the Super Dome and waited for help in inhuman conditions. Help didn’t come. They waited for about a week. Finally, coaches arrived, in which they were being sat, driving them anywhere. Specifically meaning: the people on the bus have no idea where the bus is going. Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, New York City? The residents of New Orleans, citizens of the United States, are being dispersed throughout the entire country as fugitives, families are torn apart.

And how can you come back home again after it all? When? And what kind of home? Is the house still standing? The insurances refuse to pay. The worst damages are not storm damages but damages caused by flooding. And these are not covered by the hurricane insurances. Soon it is under discussion to just tear down the most affected neighborhoods- in which predominately a black population live. Perhaps turn it back into marshland? What about a health resort? A city park, to promote the health of the city people? And again, the misunderstanding: „The Lower Ninth Ward is just so low, lower than the rest of the city. It is only reasonable to not build it up again. The residents would do better elsewhere after all.” In the chaos that lasted for years, different, mainly white stakeholders see their chance to gain influence in impeding the return of the people that are dispersed throughout the country as fugitives. Houses are torn down. Even those without essential damage. Following thesis is put forward: „Maybe the storm was an act of God, so that the city of New Orleans could rise from the ashes but only white.” Tenants of social housing in the city center are being locked out by their residential districts. The so-called Public Housing Projects were torn down by private real estate companies. More than 99 percent of the affected residents are African Americans, among them primarily single mothers, disabled and elderly people.

The bridge to Gretna. As the city lay in ruins, covered by water, immediately after the storm, a group of people wandered through the destroyed streets looking for shelter, for help and probably for drinking water too. The heat was almost 40° centigrade. Now and then they encountered overwhelmed police officers. Now and then they encountered other helpless people who join the group. Finding a way out together, out of the destroyed city, looking for help. Finally, they were told, they should cross the river. “On the other side of the Mississippi River, there in Gretna, coaches are waiting to bring you to safety.” The group, already in their hundreds, included elderly people, people in wheelchairs and children among them. In the heat, they trudged over the asphalt of the huge four lane bridge, the Crescent City Connection. From a distance, they could see police officers standing on the other side of the bridge. Obviously, they were expecting them. As they came within earshot, they heard the armed policemen shout: “Stay where you are, don’t get any closer, or we��ll shoot.” The people in the group thought they had misheard and came closer. “Where are the busses that will get us to safety? Is there any drinking water? Some of us just cannot take it any longer.” “Turn back, or we shoot”, the Gretna police shouted towards the helpless New Orleans citizens. Gretna, by the Mississippi River, on the opposite side from New Orleans. Then they started firing into the air. The group turned back. “We really thought now they’re going to shoot us.” “We were acting for the safety of the city of Gretna. We couldn’t just let anyone come into our town”, said the police department afterwards. The threat was a group of people escaping a destroyed city. Up to 95% black people. “We‘re not having black people coming into our neighborhood”, that at least is what Larry Bradshaw from the group of the fleeing people understood.

We are doing a swamp tour. Here a swamp is called bayou. A small boat, six people, a silent engine, perhaps we’ll even see a crocodile. It’s swarming with alligators here. The meeting point is at a truck stop on the Pearl River. There huge trucks are parking one next to another, ten, maybe fifteen. Each truck easily the size of one and a half European trucks. A heat of nearly 40° centigrade and nearly 100 percent air humidity. How are you supposed to breath? Is it sweat or air moisture? Everything is soaked. While in every room at least one disproportionate fan is rotating, the whole row of parked trucks keep their engines running. What? Why? What a terrible noise, and what about the environment? The drivers are resting inside, without air conditioning it would be unbearable. In the bayou, the water level is low. You can read different water levels at the trunks of the mangroves. In New Orleans plastic beads are hanging from all lampposts and trees in all colors. Mardi Gras Beads. Here, Spanish Moss is hanging from the branches. In photos it looks damp, like a kind of moss, but it is not, it is rather dry, like a kind of lichen. Garlands. There is a lot of noise in the bayou: chirping, rustling, whistling. It’s going to rain. The hurricane season had started at the beginning of June. Here and there, around the next river bend, we see little huts on stilts. Some are even floating and will rise with the water, others are likely to sink soon, built for one season, just until the next storm comes up or the water rises. Who lives here? What would it be like to spent the night here? What kind of sounds could you hear at night? The huts are about caravan-size. Tiny houses. Most of them have a small porch with a rocking chair. Maybe they watch too much TV, one wonders. Probably not, but one does wonder. At the next river bend, there is a sandbank. Toys are lying scattered in the sand. Really? I thought it was swarming with alligators? And yet children are playing in the sand by the water?On the water which stands motionless in the bayou, a surface like mercury, an infinite number of flies are sitting. Whole nations of tiny flies, sitting on the water surface with their flyweight. The surface doesn’t move at all________________________________ As we are coming closer tiny waves are formed, rolling towards the flies. Now suddenly, they are panicking and start fleeing jumping over each other. In a velocity, so that the panic seems more like an elaborate choreography, which is set in motion by our boat.

As soon as we are back in the car, it starts raining. First it rains, then it pours. Water is whipping over the windscreen like waves. The wiper works in full swing, but just as well one could use it to paddle through the bayou. Not much good. We can also turn it off. We are driving on Interstate 10, which is leading over bridges and lakes and swamps. Quite impressive. But we can’t see anything because of the rain. If we would drive on Interstate 10 to the end, we would arrive in Los Angeles. Water is whipping across the windshield. The street is flooded. Like the END OF THE WORLD. Then the rain stops.The Mississippi River Road runs directly along the Mississippi River, which one does not see, because it is hidden behind a tall wall of grass. Here is where some time ago the richest residents of the United States lived. A map shows it in the Land Registry: Strip to strip to strip. Plantation to plantation sugar cane was cultivated here. The harvest and processing of the sugar cane is very painful, because the leaves are rigid and sharp as razor blades.

The German immigrant Ambroise Heidel founded the Whitney Plantation in 1721. Its name comes from a later owner who ran the plantation after the time of slavery. Today’s owner, John Cummings, a New Orleans lawyer, created the open-air museum and memorial place, the so-called Whitney Plantation Historic District. In a small Baptist church built by free slaves after the civil war we are watching a short introductory film. All around us are dozens of life-size bronze figures of children, girls and boys, in dresses and overalls. These 40 sculptures by the sculptor Woodrow Nash portray the children of the Whitney Plantation, witnesses of the past. Our admission tickets depict one of these sculptures each. One of the children and his name. We learn they are survivors. All sculptures are portraits, each of it made according to original pictures.The survivors are getting a chance to speak about the time when they were other people’s property. Each sculpture is a portrait of a human being with their own name and their own story. On my ticket, I read the name “Henry Reed”. On the back a quotation tells about his life at the plantation. The child on the front is about 7 years old. At the time, Henry Reed was interviewed he was 86. He has survived. On a “Wall of Honor” the names of 2200 children are engraved, children that died at the Whitney and the bordering communities. On average a grown man would survive 7 years of plantation labor. Women usually lived longer. Women were more expensive, more valuable than healthy, strong men, which were used up for slave labor. From women, they could breed new working power. Two human beings were locked up in a cage, until the woman was pregnant. Cages, metal blocks, in which the heat must have been unbearable. Unborn life, valuable property. New life, more capital. The container-sized cages were manufactured in Philadelphia. The whole country was involved, not only the South. In the South is where the nasty business happened, inhuman and murderous, the rest of the country would be turning their backs to it. But here is where most of the millionaires lived.

Before the time of slavery, the US was a subordinate trade partner of the major European powers. After the time of slavery, it became an economic superpower. At the Whitney Plantation Historic District there are black marble memorials with engraved names in commemoration of the victims. One name after another. Names of the people that lived here as slaves. Bodies, which served only to accumulate their owner’s capital. More valuable or less valuable, according to health, sex, working power, fertility and the ability to give birth. One marble block is left blank intentionally. It is for those that remained nameless. A large blank surface. Somewhere on the estate the gong still hangs that marked the beginning and the end of the daily slave labor. A brass plate with a heavy hammer. We get invited to ring it to remember the victims, those who died and those who survived. It sounds heavy and resonates for a while. Even though we had expected unsettling things keeping our composure feels kind of tough. Again, it starts raining. Our guide Ali intently says, that retelling is important. We can all see how deeply he cares, and that he is right. It is not over yet. The half has never been told. He says loudly: Slavery and oppression are not past, it is not over yet. In the USA, more citizens are in jail as in any other country in the world. 25 % of those imprisoned worldwide are in an US penitentiary. Out of 100.000 white US-citizens there are 478 prison inmates, out of the same amount of black US-citizens there are 3.023. Out of more than 35.000 museums in the USA the Whitney Plantation Historic District is the only one dedicated exclusively to the history of the enslaved plantation inhabitants.

The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is located south of New Orleans. On wooden planks one can walk right through the wetlands and explore it. We see swarms of dragon flies, giant locusts and two alligators. Later, we chat with a Ranger. He tells us about an alligator den which is being guarded by an alligator mother somewhere around here. Don’t get too close! The Ranger is a little man with an uncanny resemblance to Steve Buscemi. Maybe because we are from Germany he suddenly starts talking: His ancestors came from Europe. His ancestors settled in the north of the USA. His ancestors didn’t cast out native Americans neither did they murder them, yet they benefited from the fact that others did. When the ships brought tons of cotton from the plantations up the Mississippi River to the north of the country passengers could travel on empty ships back southwards almost for free. So, his ancestors moved on. He says: “My ancestors never traded in slaves neither did they keep slaves, but, again, they benefited from the fact that others did.” From what have we benefitted?

Finally, we want to visit another plantation. I say: the way that they are processing the past of course is American. But they do process it and from the perspective of the victims and of those who survived, that is a good thing. I had no idea and have learned a lot. At TripAdvisor, the Laura Plantation is highly recommended. Five stars, best plantation ever: Immerse yourself in the history. Visitors enter the Laura Plantation through the gift shop. Obviously, the marketing is working. Shower gel, cookies, bottle openers, towels, all kinds of souvenirs, most of them with an image of Laura on it. Laura, youngest member of the plantation owner dynasty, she soon left the plantation to live in a big city, an emancipated woman. At some point, she wrote down her memories of the plantation. That all was not well with it, sure thing. We are a large group, US-Americans from all over the country looking forward to seeing a real plantation. Southern states’ glory, North and South. At least one selfie in front of the mighty oaks that are quite a bit younger than the plantation itself, but never mind: The manor house is a splendor. Our guide is squeezing her PET bottle in her back pocket and introduces herself as Katie: “You know whenever you have a question...“. Her eyes wide open she tells stories of life in the plantation: “Sometimes, when a slave did something wrong they would just, shoot him. And nobody would be accused of murder because: a slave’s life was not worth much.” In the basement, we are seeing life-sized cardboard stand-ups of the plantation owners. It had been the largest plantation so far. The Master and his wife lived like king and queen. Of course, there was a lot of work, with such a giant plantation– “Hey Katie! Is this furniture in the original state?” No, of course not, we just collected it somewhere, who cares. But hey, we planted banana trees: They are thriving in our hot and humid Louisiana climate. “Come on and check it out! Now, let’s have a look at the kitchen, the cooking barn. Here the slaves prepared all their delicious dishes they brought to us from their old homeland, Africa. Jambalaya, Gumbo– watch out: Each paving stone on which we’re standing, each and every brick you’re seeing, the slaves made with their own hands. Brick by brick. From the MUD, that they carried here from the shores of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER…” I mean... whaat? They love the Laura Plantation on TripAdvisor: If you ever wanted to see a major sugar cane plantation, you go there. Gone with the Wind. We are waiting until the whole group has entered the kitchen barn and then we run across the plantation, take the back door out, and breath a sigh of relief to be back in our car.

The series NOLA (New Orleans) is shown in this issue. Ten pieces, watercolor on paper, first the back, then the front. It is all beads, water, water like mercury, flies on the water surface, the bayou, huts mounted on stilts, with porches and rocking chairs, Mardi Gras Beads, mud, mold, Spanish Moss, fans, trucks with their engines running, heat, swamps and wetlands, a levee built on silt, heavy rain, storms, destroyed houses, demolished housing blocks, the Mississippi River, and the millionaires who lived along its shores.

Ayumi Rahn, 2018

InterViews X New Orleans

#artist's book #friends with books #Ayumi Rahn #New Orleans #whitney plantation #Interviews #artzine #nola #watercolor #beyond the bayou tours

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gretamclaughlin · 4 years ago

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Thirsty Nations: The World’s Water Crisis

For several weeks, we have been speaking about agriculture and its effects on the environment and human health. People need to employ alternative methods for a more sustainable and safer future. This week’s materials focus on water resources, availability, and pollution and their effects on ecosystems. Globally, water is unevenly distributed and contaminated for many individuals. People use water in an unsustainable manner, rendering it impossible for it to replenish itself. Although I will speaking about general water issues in this blog, I will be paying particular attention to those dealing with agriculture. We must handle the world’s water issues before it is depleted.

The textbook highlights how the water problem is an economic, security, and environmental issue, worsening as time goes on. Currently, a significant amount of our water supply comes from groundwater. Humans deplete aquifers too quickly for them to replenish themselves, thus rendering a semi-renewable resource non-renewable, and they drain surface water sources as well. Climate change aggravates the problem; it causes snowpacks to melt earlier and faster, and water is not available when people need it during dry seasons. Rather than conserving this depleting resource, people just move to the next area they can exploit. However, this method is bound to stop at some point in the near future because there will be no other sources to turn to. Without water, there is no life on earth, and people should treat it as so.

The long-term consequences of drying out water sources, building dams, diverting rivers, and more for human use outweigh the short-term benefits. Dams and reservoirs supply an ample amount of water for surrounding communities, and they increase water’s availability for irrigation and electricity. However, these practices destroy biodiversity and affect the geography of the land by creating sinkholes. Reservoirs do not last long either, filling up with silt within a few decades of being built. Additionally, diverting water from its natural path reduces its ability to clear out pollution, as is what occurs in the San Francisco Bay. These promising methods are often detrimental. However, few people understand or care; they only see the positives that come from exploiting water right now. Unfortunately, the effects of this ignorance are already being seen across the world, and it is affecting human health and agriculture.

A significant amount of our water footprints come from virtual water. Freshwater is used to produce food and other products like clothing and paper. According to María Del Mar Sánchez Espejo, the avocado trade is unsustainable concerning water resources (Espejo 2018, 24). Demand for avocados has increased greatly in the past 30 years, and it has caused virtual water to move from water stressed areas like Mexico and Chile to less water stressed areas like the United Kingdom and Japan. Therefore, areas where the avocados are being grown suffer from water depletion. Certainly, although a lot of water is used at the pre-consumer level, we are still personally responsible for a great deal of it, even if we are not directly using it. When eating an avocado, you waste water because of its cultivation. The individual can play a role in reducing this unsustainable water usage by carefully selecting what we consume. We have the power to adjust our habits, which will hopefully influence agricultural practices and industry as a whole.

Today, agriculture relies on irrigation, especially in dry regions. Irrigation makes up a significant percentage of water usage in the U.S. and is widely unregulated. According to The New York Times, agriculture companies, many coming from the Middle East, flocked to Arizona in the early 2000s (Shannon 2018). Although the climate is generally arid, these corporations exploited aquifers because of the state’s minimal groundwater regulations. These companies grow thirsty crops like nuts and alfalfa and have been drying out the water to the point that smaller farmers cannot survive. Non-farming families also suffer and cannot access enough water to meet their basic needs. California has another problematic agricultural system, and farmers rely on irrigation to grow crops that naturally would not survive there. Even in areas where government regulations exist, such as with the Colorado River treaty between Mexico and U.S. states, they are often inadequate in properly preserving water for the future, both for humans and other organisms. Increased climate change will only aggravate the problem.

Water pollution presents another issue, and agricultural activities are the leading cause of it for reasons such as sediment runoff and fertilizers. Animal wastes pollute waters and can cause fatal illnesses for those drinking the water, an issue that is even more profound in developing nations with little to no water treatment facilities. Further issues come about from industrial issues like the leaking of pathogens and chemicals into the water. Many of these problems relate to the previous blog posts, so I will be brief.

New solutions are emerging to handle depleting water including the treatment of wastewater, which is in tune with natural cycling processes. In California, there are a number of facilities that remove contaminants from wastewater (Water Education Foundation, n.d.). Water can either be purified for potable uses or nonpotable uses (like landscape irrigation). It is run through a variety of systems including grit chambers and disinfection processes. Different challenges arise, such as issues with pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and other chemicals present in water. However, at the rate that the technology is advancing, I am confident that the agencies will be able to tackle these issues. California’s treatment system should serve as an example to other states and nations as a way to preserve water. We can recycle water and ensure that toxins are not being dumped into the environment, thereby reducing our reliance on unsustainable sources and cleaning up ecosystems.

Constructed wetlands can also treat wastewater, and they use natural cycling processes. Wastewater flows through a pipe and on top of soil or through gravel, and the plants in the system take in organic materials (National Small Flows Clearinghouse, n.d.). Solids and trace metals settle. This system effectively cleans many toxins out of the water and builds up ecosystems in the process, even if said ecosystems are human-made. There are some disadvantages, and engineers are still unsure about its ability to deal with some chemicals. However, constructed wastelands are clearly better than not treating water at all, and they cost significantly less than conventional systems. They also could be important to implement in areas that are located far away from wastewater treatment centers, so complicated and expensive transport systems do not have to be built, and more people will not have to deal with the effects of dirty water.

However, many issues remain with dumping trash and sewage into bodies of water, including oceans. Relatively recent regulations in the U.S. have limited the ability of companies and individuals to do this, but companies still contaminate water resources. In January 2020, Donald Trump rolled back the Obama Administration’s pollution restrictions, and he favored corporations, effectively removing protections on clean water (Davenport 2020). The Albatross film and Chris Jordan’s photographs highlight the depressing reality of water pollution across the world. We are killing our fellow organisms, and nobody seems to care too much about it. It stuns me how difficult it is for some people to just dispose of their trash in the correct manner, and I see it a lot at Fordham. People do not care about the environment enough to even adjust their actions the smallest bit, and they litter, do not recycle, and create unnecessary waste.

Significant changes should be made at the federal and global levels to ameliorate the water crisis. We need increased programs to monitor groundwater supplies through satellites. Through this method, scientists can analyze variations to the earth’s gravitational pull, which tell us about changes in groundwater supplies, surface water, and more. By monitoring this, we can take preemptive measures to prevent further degradation, such as issuing standards for water use for specific seasons. Ultimately, state governments are likely to be more responsive to these concerns than the federal government, such as how California regulates its water use. The government should also remove subsidies supporting unsustainable agriculture in arid regions. There is no reason for thirsty crops to be grown in these areas, and they put a strain on water supplies for the whole nation. If more natural crops are planted, the water issue will decrease. Therefore, greater subsidies for farmers for crops that are easier to grow in the climate may prove to be necessary. Subsidies can also be shifted to promote the farming of more thirsty crops in regions that can support them. This may require shifts in urban planning initiatives to ensure there is space for farming, and this will be difficult. However, the federal government can use policies like mandates to require spaces to open up farming (i.e. withholding federal funding for infrastructure if the Northeast does not set aside land for certain crops).

Irrigation presents another issue, and we should encourage farmers to use more efficient methods to prevent water waste. Drip irrigation significantly improves efficiency. In the film Symphony of the Soil, one of the farmers uses drip irrigation in California. He explains that this process allows him to save money because he does not have to pay for as much water. Certainly, if changes in irrigation systems are presented in this manner, being an initial investment that pays off, more farmers will support shifting their methods. Grassroots organizations will play a role in this by distributing information to farmers and local agricultural organizations. If major farming groups can understand this position, they will have a significant impact on agriculture in the U.S. In developing countries, it is important to promote using the traditional, low-cost irrigation methods that the textbook describes, which are often more efficient than industrialized ways. Organizations speaking to farming communities directly may expedite this process. Promoting the use of polycultures throughout the world, rather than monocultures, will reduce soil erosion and evaporative water losses, preserving the soil and decreasing reliance on such large quantities of water; waterways will be dually preserved. Comprehensive education is important to enact these changes. Farmers must understand the benefits of turning to more sustainable agricultural methods. Although there are often up-front costs, they will pay off in the future with reduced water and resources as a whole.

Agricultural companies must be regulated in the amount of land they can acquire in a certain region during a certain period of time. In Arizona, a handful of corporations were able to buy up land quickly. Thus, they were able to quickly set their agenda in motion and degrade resources. If the government can prevent these corporations from buying such large swaths of land, this fast-paced environmental degradation is less likely to occur and will give authorities time to review the companies’ actions. Of course, in the U.S., this could prove to be difficult with courts often being strict readers of the Constitution. However, if individuals can put pressure on the government, perhaps some progress can be made. These large land purchases infringe on people’s rights to resources, so perhaps this angle can be used to convince officials.

Widespread water conservation policies should also be enacted. Municipalities can begin instituting policies that restrict the amount of water residents consume and raise the cost of it. By instituting lifeline rates, households can use a set amount of affordable water to meet basic needs. After this limit is reached, they must pay higher and higher amounts for water; this is a user-pays approach. Therefore, impoverished people still have access to water. However, people who want to use an unsustainable amount must pay for it. Hopefully, this method will discourage individuals from overusing water and will make them more conscious of their environmental impact. Additionally, there must be limits on the amount of water that can be extracted from aquifers during a certain period of time. If people do not follow the regulations, they should face heavy fines. If policies like these had been implemented in Arizona, families and farmers would not be suffering. Instead, unregulated companies were able to drain the lifeblood of the region. Wastewater treatment plants should also be built across nations to recycle water and reduce the strain on groundwater and surface water. California provides an example of what this can look like, and we should learn from their treatment processes to make water usage more cyclical rather than linear. These treatment facilities should be presented in the light that they will save money in the long run by preserving water. On an international level, comprehensive treaties must be pursued to divide water usage rights among countries. The Mexican-American agreement is an example of poor policy because it allowed people to extract an unsustainable amount of water; other organisms were not considered. Treaties that consider entire ecosystems and ensure that water will be preserved at a sustainable level will be important in ensuring that future generations and other organisms have access to the same resources that we do.

Better and more comprehensive urban planning in communities is important in order to prevent soil erosion and runoff. If we work to concentrate people in cities, we can help preserve natural vegetation and ecosystems outside of these urban areas. Additionally, new communities should be built in a way that protects natural features. For example, cluster developments should be used, and this can be instituted at the municipal level through zoning laws. Covering cropland with vegetation and employing different farming techniques like conservation tillage also help in preventing erosion and runoff.

The U.S. must work with developing nations to improve their sewage systems. Throwing sewage into waterways is a public health disaster. Therefore, new methods can be introduced, like compost toilets, which will help reduce this problem. Low-cost, constructed wetlands are another possible solution.

Individuals should also make some changes in their lives. By not purchasing products that require a lot of water, not buying produce from arid regions that require a lot of irrigation, and supporting sustainable companies, people can effectively vote with their wallets. Companies will hopefully see this shift in public opinion and change their practices accordingly. Using low-flow showerheads and front-loading washers can also reduce household water usage. People should ensure that the pipes in their homes are not leaking, so no water is wasted.

At Fordham, improvements can be made to the sprinkler system. I have seen sprinklers running when it has just rained or even while it is raining. The maintenance staff needs to fix this problem to ensure that water is not wasted. Taking steps to prevent this would also save money and improve the quality of plants. Furthermore, the University should introduce more native vegetation as opposed to plants that require a significant amount of water. Native species require less attention, too, so it is a win-win situation.

Generally, a bottom-up approach is necessary to deal with water issues. After all, this has been the way that many U.S. environmental acts have passed. If people bring these issues to the population’s and the government’s attention, we can create real change in how we deal with water. This invaluable resource must be protected because without it, life on Earth cannot exist.

Word Count: 2545

Question: Is it possible for us not to rely on aquifers at all in the future?

Water Footprint: 917.9 m³ per year

Diagrams:

2015 water usage in the U.S. - states heavily using irrigation like California and Texas use the most.

Rise of water withdrawals nationwide (in billion gallons per day)

Drip irrigation system, which ensures that plants take in most of the water

Works Cited:

Espejo, María Del Mar Sánchez. 2018. “The Implication of the Avocado Trade for Global Water Scarcity.” MSc Thesis, Cranfield University.

Shannon, Noah Gallagher. 2018. “The Water Wars of Arizona.” The New York Times, July 19, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/magazine/the-water-wars-of-arizona.html.

Water Education Foundation. n.d. “Wastewater Treatment Process in California.” Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/wastewater-treatment-process-california.

National Small Flows Clearinghouse. n.d. “Constructed Wetlands Factsheet.” Purdue University. https://engineering.purdue.edu/~frankenb/NU-prowd/cwetfact.htm#:~:text=Constructed%20wetlands%20provide%20simple%20and,operating%20costs%20are%20very%20low.

Davenport, Coral. 2020. “Trump Removes Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands.” The New York Times, July 6, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/climate/trump-environment-water.html.

#water #irrigation #water crisis #california #trump #wetlands #arizona #fordham #nyc #environment #environmentalism

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y3s1-20182019 · 6 years ago

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PHASE 4 - ENDEMICHOMES

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE : MUDHIF, IRAQ

“THE CTHULUCENIC GARDEN OF EDEN”

It has never been clearer than now that we must “stay with the trouble” and actively seek possibilities for recuperation even as we are anxiously learning the great depths of the climate-related troubles we face.

What is Chthulucene?

Chthulucene is a term created by Donna Haraway, that propose an alternative interpretation of what we commonly know as Anthropocene. Unlike the dominant interpretation of Anthropocene discourse, DH sustains that human beings are not the only important actors involved to heal our precarious times.

The Chthulucene gives importance to the ongoing multispecies stories, to propose and imagine new ecosystemic futures where connections between human and non humans are all knitted.

The damage of “Garden of Eden”

In the land of Mesopotamia, where Tigris and Euphrates meets, there is one of the most fertile land in the middle east known as the “Garden of Eden”, located in southern Iraq. This land is the cradle of civilization for the “Marsh Arabs”, where water is significantly important in their daily lives . “Water” is used for many purposes- as transportation, to tend animals, and to grow plants. And because it’s the land between two rivers, there is occasional flooding, meaning that the land is abundant in water all year round. Reed & mud, is the main material that can be found in the area. Locals benefit from this versatile material, allowing them to make many things, such as, pottery, musical instruments, toys, and architecture. Other local material like wool, is also used to produce the traditional wedding marsh blankets. Animals which can be found in the area are Marshland-based animals, such as, water buffalos, sheeps, water birds, and fish. These animals are vital for the locals; where out of the marshland, camels can be found as a mode of transportation. In terms of architecture, reed is used to construct houses. Reeds are bundled into an arch, while a form of woven reeds mat is used to cover the arch, while a fence is constructed in the final step. Mudhif, my case study, is the one that serves as a convention hall for holy activities and a gathering space, interconnected with other buildings in the community. The social structure of the community is defined by where dirt is piled on top of another- this means that water level creates the land for buildings to be constructed on. Reeds are woven to create the pattern that indicated specific tribes, which is similar to the traditional islamic patterns, which moreover allowes for light and ventilation. The traditional wool wedding carpet made by mothers and given to their son or spouse during marriage, has patterns of nature mixed with imageries depicting the local way of life, such as floral, fauna, and human interactions.

In 1992, the gulf war occurred in Iraq. Saddam Hussein, the prime minister at that time, had ordered the drainage of water out of the marshland by cutting five canals through the Tigris-Euphrates. At this point, all the water was drained off to the sea turning the land into a salty desert. In the early 2000s, a group of Marsh Arabs returned to their homeland and tried to dig canals and demolished the dam in order to gain back water, however only 30% of the area has been re-flooded, and unfortunately, only 15% is considered a true wetland.

“It has never been clearer than now that we must “stay with the trouble” and actively seek possibilities for recuperation even as we are anxiously learn the great depths of any climate-related troubles we are facing now or may face in the future.”

“Water” as a complex agent

I formed the imageries of my project by using the concept of “string figure” which are ‘interconnected, unbreakable, network, complexity’ that link human and non-human together by means of technology in order to find new ways of living, dealing, and dying within. From this, I started looking into the process of constructing unnaturally natural machinery. As a result of decades of dry desert topography, hydrogen sulfide has been produced under-land. “Water” which is the ‘complex agent’ of my project, has turned into brackish water, generating many organic matter. Mud is dry and has started to decay. I classified the marshland into 2 parts : waterfront and wetland, and started to design based on users usage and applying the potential of working with a phytoremediation process to remediate power in the affected area.

This synthesis form manipulation is derived from the the old construction method of bundling reed. With gravity in consideration, the structure also proves to be functional and appealing to original folkloric patterns aesthetics.

Unnaturally Natural

To “Revive”, I consider the aspect of housing along with general transformation reflecting on water and environment restoration that aims to accommodate while dealing with water fluctuation in the present to the future, while cleaning and generating water experiences for the users.

The alignment of the system started from the water picking up from the polluted marshes into a preserved water butt on each island. The water is then used as a flush water to tend animals. It also passes through a series of wetlands cells, to become cleaner water shower. The water runs into the biofilter dome, before arriving at the residential unit, which by now, the water is at it’s cleanest. The cycle then revives again at the reserved water butt. These artificial islands that can be constructed with CFW plastic matrix, a floating plastic that is mostly used as a platform of artificially-constructed wetlands, while steel mechanic parts help rise the land up. The plastic are perforated into patterns that allows plant to grow over in time, creating the transition for the artifacts above.

Communal Space

This shows a possible variation of composition for the city, in which the one in the upper part is the waterfront, while the cities are located on the marshland

Reserved Water-Butt

The enclosure and form of each spaces create a variation of microclimate from water, sun and ventilation.

Water Closet

Some are closed up with shading so water cannot evaporate. Some of them are open, so that the water can be sprayed out.

Cosy Enclosure

Bio-fil-ter Dome

Dry Enclosure

the interior partitions made of reeds or other growing material.

Water & Fire Experiences

Biophilic Materials

biophilia (litteraly love for nature) is human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature.

One of the main artifacts of the healing garden island is a biophilia-filtering machine, which works with one main water pipe, linking the processes of shooting/filtering/dripping/decomposing/releasing. Shooting: shoot water by using water turbine to help while the turbine is a treatment itself. Filtering: filter oxygen to water and absorb organic compound by using aquatic plant. Dripping: increase energy of water by using lg seaweed and duckweed to decompose organic matter. Decomposing, a continuation from the process earlier which absorbs nitrogen and phosphorus, the cause of waste water and eventually releasing it back to nature. This process allows for the restoration of nature, functioning and working by itself overtime, with the tower adds a layer to mimic and check the quality of water daily. The structure is made by a method of old bundled reed with water pipe, where underneath, it stands on the constructed wetland or decomposing layer.

Once the reed grows, it will create live patterns when tied to an existing structure. This method links to the ancient days of how when the reed is weakened, Marsh Arabs use new piled reeds tied with an existing structure for support. The form of the dome is also inspired by the old arch bundled form mixed with a more contemporary Islamic art.34. This biofilic sensation of materials inspired me to create ornamentally functional membrane by organizing the growth of roots into patters.

A patterned plate made out of barley and wheat has been added to the layers in the reed bundled house, to reflect the vegetation that has been growing in the land before, reimagining the old “Eden”. Once the rice has grown and has been collected, the root will shape into the pattern plate, resulting in a new roof pattern mat to cover the dome. This acts as a bypass infrastructure- a machine that creates humanity, absorbing light from plants to be used throughout the year.

The leg of the dome can be adjusted to varying heights, in order to detect occasional flood and water levels that may increase in the future.

Healing the gardens of Eden

This innovative, sufficient alternative can possibly revive the marshland back to the eden it once was overtime. By staying with the trouble, this resulted in a series of speculative creation of an artificially natural landscape of unnatural healing was imaginated.

“STAYING WITH THE TROUBLE, LIVING KIN IN THE CTHULUCENIC GARDEN OF EDEN”

#9 Mint Ramita Yibmontasiri #Alicia Lazzaroni #Phase 4

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