Cob watershed (off topic)

[Susan Tait]

Sharing another off topic email on waterhed conservation. This originally
came out of California, but I received it from a friend of a friend who
works for the Denver Water Company. I don't know how you feel, but #11 may
be up for debate!!!

Sue Tait
suechef at bwn.net

1. Find a watershed, fall in love with it, and commit yourself to help
protect and restore it for the rest of your life.  Help your friends and
family fall in love with it to.  Make sure one of the places you fall in
love
with is in your own watershed.  Every year spend some time with it and do  a
little more to help it.  Over time, your efforts, and those of the friends
and family you brought to it can make a significant difference.  But keep
in mind a prime directive - don't sacrifice other places for yours.

2.  Educate yourself and educate others.  Learn all you can about the
different linkages of issues and science in your watershed.  As you learn,
share it.  Personal communication is the most effective means of learning
and
changing.  As you know more, pass it along to others in email, letters to
the
editor, friends and people you meet, anywhere and everywhere, and learn from
them at the same time.  Best is to become expert enough on some aspect of
your watershed and participate in any stakeholder or other decision-making
processes.  State, federal and local agency public processes are biased
towards those who know the most about an issue and have the most
information.
Become one of those people yourselves.

3.  Get involved in the watershed group where you live.  Every place is in a
watershed.  If there isn't already a river or watershed organization, help
start one. Find other interested people through Friends of the River, the
Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, neighboring watershed organizations,
community-based organizations of diverse allies, friends of friends....

4.  Get good-on-the-environment candidates elected to office.  In this world
where campaign contributions seem to drive much of politics, the only way to
combat this (besides through campaign finance reform) is to put personal
energy into the campaigns of people you can support.  Help get like-minded
people to vote on Election Day. Remember over 50% of eligible voters don't
vote.  Your efforts on a grassroots level make a difference.  And consider
running
for office yourself some day.  There are few better ways to serve your
community
and country.

5.  When you have money, give some of it away to help support organizations
that make a difference with the environment.  Sometimes better than giving
money is giving time. Professional staff make a tremendous difference in
being able to keep up with the complex, time consuming aspects of many parts
of environmental protection efforts. They are often overworked and if you
can
volunteer quality time with the organization, you can become a valued asset.
And don't forget to give some money to environmental candidates.  It's
almost
impossible to win anything without a minimum level of funding.

6.  Live lighter on the land and channel land use and population growth
where it is environmentally most sound.  California is a fast growing state.
We have 33 million plus now and by 2020 are expected to have over 50
million.
By 2030 we may double the population.  To save farms and wildlife habitat,
people will need to live more closely together. If a high-density infill
project is proposed in your town or city, go out and actively support it
(even as you help improve it).  To lessen resource depletion through mining,
oil drilling, overcutting of timber, and other non-renewable activities, we
all need to lower our own consumption.  And don't forget about our own roles
in increasing the population levels.  Because they live in a first world
country, our children are highly likely to consume large quantities of
non-renewable resources in their lifetime.

7.  Learn about farming and ranching and become friends with people who make
their living off the land.  Spend time on a ranch or a farm and learn the
real life problems and opportunities they have. We all have to eat and
farmers are indispensable.  Their land can offer the best opportunities for
habitat restoration on a macro and micro scale.  Remember that they are
actual or potential allies, and not the enemy.

8.  Eat lower on the food chain.  The water it takes to irrigate pasture to
feed cattle in California ranges from around 2500 -12,500 gallons of water
per pound of beef produced.  About twice as much water goes into producing
food for meat and dairy animals in California than is used by all 33 million
in their homes, yards, golf courses, businesses, industries and all urban
uses.  In addition, the pollution that runs into rivers from meat and dairy
production is enormous in comparison to human waste and sewage.  And don't
forget to support organic farming by eating what they produce.

9.  Wherever you live, change your landscaping to hold more water on your
land and avoid runoff and erosion.  Changes such as mulching, berms, swales,
french drains, ponds and more slows floods, recharges groundwater, helps
delay and breakdown pollutants, settles sediment, and can improve habitat
for
birds, insects and other life.  All our actions, big and small, can add up
to
make huge differences, especially on a watershed level. Check out Tree
People's proposals for Southern California to make so many small changes
that
it predicts the regions water imports can be cut in half.  And don't forget
to work at reducing, or better yet, eliminating the use of pesticides and
fertilizers in your own yard or garden.

10.  Change our personal habits and infrastructure.  When we form new
habits, we don't think about it after awhile. We automatically wash and
rinse
a load of dishes on a tub of water, brush teeth on a glass or two, shave
without running water, wash the car while watering some land, pee in a
compost heap (best done at night), water only once every week or two and
train roots to go deep, don't wash our cars with toxins, and more.  When we
improve our own plumbing, our guests don't have to form good habits to save
water, and we can take longer showers without feeling as guilty.   1.6
gallon
flush toilets, low flow shower heads, faucet aerators, drip irrigation,
energy and water efficient appliances and more make a long term,
no-need-to-think difference. Think about how much and why we are using
water.
Don't use more than is needed. (And we all need a long hot shower sometimes
:-)

11.  Don't shower with a lover.  Either you will use more water than two
10-minute showers, or you are likely to highly disappoint your lover.