California is in a drought…still.
It’s interesting: when I mention the drought, lots of people say, “Oh, no, not again?” as if the drought ceases every time we get measurable rain.
It doesn’t. The drought is the worst in centuries, with no end in sight. And given the uncertainty of climate change, it may not be a drought at all. It may just be our new climate.
What does permanent drought mean for us?
Well, for one, I won’t say that I haven’t been tempted by despair. The biggest despair I feel is when I look out our back windows at the old-growth redwoods there. We haven’t had our trees dated, but a rough guess is that they’re over a thousand years old.
Think about it for a minute: These trees lasted through everything in the last thousand years: droughts, torrential rains, pests, and lightning (you can see the scars).
But we’re succeeding in killing them off with less than a human lifetime of burnt carbon. Redwood trees take most of their moisture in through their leaves (they have leaves, not needles), so they’ll be OK as long as we’ve got fog. And so far, we’re doing OK on that front.
But the unpredictability of climate change tells us that we can’t plan on fog the way we used to. What if it all dries up?
A positive focus on what we can do
But despair is pointless. Despair stops us from finding solutions, and solutions are what we need. I’m not a water engineer, a climate scientist, or a politician, but that doesn’t mean I’m powerless. I’m part of the system, and I control my little part of the whole.
Part of what I control is my household and my yard. And believe me, we’ve done almost everything there is to do:
- We let the lawn go dormant in the summer from when we moved in
- We replanted with low-water or no-water plants
- We installed a drip system and we use it wisely
- We have all low-water appliances and toilets
- Shower timers, leak detectors, hot water pump…
Besides what I do at home, I also control the messages I send out into the world. I’m a writer, yes, but I’m also a person who gets into conversations at the pool and the grocery store. I can share ideas for positive action when others express despair.
Education is the key
My feature article in Growing Up in Santa Cruz this month is about How to Raise a Water Wise Kid. If you’ve got a family and live in a drought-prone area, take a look at my suggestions. There are lots of fun water-themed adventures you can take. We can never be perfect as parents, but we can do our best to make sure our kids have the information they need.
It’s so important to educate ourselves and be ambassadors of good information. For adults, I highly recommend this in depth article from the New York Times.
