Mega-Droughts
This page isn't for governments, NGOs, environmental groups, or lobbyists. This page about mega-droughts is full of little solutions for Jack and Jill homeowner and their almost 80 million homes in the US. It's time for us to stop waiting on laws to be passed, developers to put the environment over profit, or charitable donations to be made; we just need to get to work like busy little beavers, playing the hand we've been dealt.
"Told you, bruh."
This is a beaver. Years ago, beavers were considered a nuisance to be trapped and killed, either for their pelts or for their behavior. Beavers are Nature's Lumberjacks; they gnaw away at trees until the tree falls over and clogs up a nearby waterway, then they plug the remaining holes with smaller sticks and reeds to make a natural dam, thus creating a soggy marshland where there was once a fast-moving stream. Clearly, this pesky animal is a real-estate developer's worst nightmare.
A beaver's job is to keep water in the system. If rain falls on an impermeable surface and nothing stops its downward flow back to the ocean, it can leave the system where it fell in anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on conditions. While people desire and need water - when it's in the "right" places, of course - people hate beavers because land is valuable, and there's not much people can do with soggy swampland or flooded basements. So we got rid of them, almost completely. But conservationists are increasingly seeing beavers as an important strategy to rebuild water resilience in drought-prone areas.
The plight of the beaver is a perfect example of how mankind's idea to reduce the land to "zero" and build it back to suit his preference instead of nature's has led to a global catastrophe. We used up the trees and didn't replant so we would have farmland, making it even easier for water to evaporate out of the system. The best farmland (according to us) is perfectly flat, so we flattened out contours whenever possible, making it even easier for water flow out of the system. We doused the land in pesticides and herbicides to get rid of undesirable bugs and weeds, collapsing the chain of life in the process. We did our best to corral water to only the places we wanted it so that more land could be developed, occasionally making it easier for that developed land to be flooded. To the greatest extent of our ability, we dressed up the land in our favorite lovely outfit; concrete, asphalt and fescue. Now, I like a nicely manicured lawn and a well-paved driveway as much as the next person, but it's time we homeowners made a few adjustments to the status quo.
These days, almost all the things nature used to do for free has to be paid for and fussed with by us. In many places, people have to pay for water. Pesticides and herbicides. Seeds. Fertilizer. Mulch. Fuel-burning landscape equipment and the fuel necessary to keep it running. Everywhere you turn, costs are going up, especially for farmers and ranchers who literally feed the world. Costs are going up for us, too, and they have been for several decades, but it's not just the costs we face on our utility bills or at the grocery stores. There's a deeper cost we're paying for and the bill has finally come due; we're running out of water.
As a whole, we still seem to be in the argument stage. Who to blame, who to punish, who to restrict and when, and then there's still plenty of people who believe the problem is as real as Santa Claus. It seems like we're collectively still watching the water go down the drain in disbelief and hoping next year will bring the rains again.
Well, it's good to hope for the rains to come and the snow pack to re-establish, but we need to take some concrete (pun intended) steps today to prepare for a new world in the next few years, and there's plenty we can do. There are specific things landowners can do to return local creeks to year-round flows even in the midst of severe drought, but you don't have to be a landowner to make a difference.
The ideas below will start out from inside the house and move outward to the land around your home, finally moving to ideas for neighborhoods and towns. There's almost 80 million of you out there; even if you do one new thing on this list this year and convince friends and family to try something as well, you will be making a difference.
Got a dripping faucet? Fix it! If you aren't comfortable with DIY, call a plumber; you'll be helping the local economy, saving money on your water bill and conserving water.
Got a dripping shower head? Fix it! If you aren't comfortable with DIY, call a plumber; you'll be helping the local economy, saving money on your water bill and conserving water.
Is your toilet running? Fix it! If you aren't comfortable with DIY, call a plumber; you'll be helping the local economy, saving money on your water bill and conserving water.
Is your outdoor spigot dripping? Fix it! If you aren't comfortable with DIY, call a plumber; you'll be helping the local economy, saving money on your water bill and conserving water.
Install new water aerators on all faucets to conserve water while maintaining pressure and flow. Aerators get buildup and mineral deposits over time that can reduce effectiveness.
Update your old toilet with a new EPA watersense toilet that uses less water per flush. This can help take a chunk out of your water bill!
Check building codes, save up a tidy sum, then install an Incinerating toilet or a composting toilet that doesn't even use water at all.
Upgrade your dishwasher or washing machine with an Energy Star model and see if a rebate is available to help cover the cost.
Check building codes and install a grey water system to help irrigate your property and reduce waste water leaving the system via sewers.
Install an outdoor shower to help irrigate your property with grey water and reduce waste water leaving the system via sewers.
Make sure every bit of landscaping that's not lawn has the right amount of organic or inorganic mulch to help retain moisture.
When possible make walkways, driveways, or patios "pervious" or permeable to keep water from leaving the system via surface runoff.
Determine proper placement and plant one tree, or several to increase shade, reduce ground evaporation, and improve water retention.
Reduce the size of your lawn by converting borders into native perennial beds or meadows. Find plants for your area here.
Check local and State regulations then install rain barrels to reduce water leaving the system via surface runoff.
Use geocell grids and fill with crushed gravel, sand, or mulch to create permeable drives or paths on contours while keeping material in place.
Create or buy Ollas and dig them into your in-ground garden or freshly planted perennial beds to water more efficiently.
Use micro-swales and micro-wiers to slow rainwater as it moves across your property, enabling deeper irrigation and keeping water in the system.
Build wicking beds for your vegetable garden to reduce the amount of watering needed each week.
Install a WaterSense sprinkler timer on your outdoor spigot for more precise watering and less waste.
If you have a fair amount of land, observe water flows during a rain event and determine if swales or rain gardens can be implemented.
Here is an in-depth video about ways to recharge the aquifer in your area. This can be done on a single property or even by groups of land owners or municipalities.
Correct placement of small, simple check dams can help prevent erosion and keep water in the system longer.
Plant native groundcover species across bare soil to slow evaporation and surface water flow. Use species beneficial to pollinators!
Look at what's possible, what's already been done by people coming together to better manage water in their neighborhoods and cities...
The New York City DEP has created a volunteer stewardship program to build raingardens throughout the city to help manage storm runoff. Could this model be replicated in your city?
Bill Bamberger took the most degraded, most parched piece of land he could find in Texas, and got springs flowing again within 2 years.
From horrifying dust storms in New South Wales, Australia to greenery in the midst of severe drought. See what sheep farmer Charles Massey did to turn the tide.
Carol Evans, a BLM biologist, made it her life's work to restore riparian areas in Nevada. Even as drought intensifies, transformation continues on Dixie Creek in Elko.
Mexico City is reclaiming a rich water heritage inherited from the Aztecs. Almost completely extirpated by a colonialist mindset, Chinampas are once again thriving.
45 days. From barren to plenty in 45 days. See what happens when parched communities in India compete with each other for a cash prize.
An Oasis has emerged from the rocky, barren ground in a desert in Jordan. See the 10-year transformation and fruitfulness of the GDP partnership
When deforestation, "productive land" as some farmers called it, gets repaired, water never runs dry. See the life's work of this "fool" from New Zealand.