Some of us who live in arid parts of the world think about water with a reverence others might find excessive. The water I will draw tomorrow from my tap in Malibu is today crossing the Mojave Desert from the Colorado River, and I like to think about exactly where that water is. —Joan Didion in “Holy Water”
I was in California last week where much of the news was focused on the drought. This article in Grist, one of the most informative I’ve read, clarifies the facts and debunks some of the myths surrounding the water crisis.
Diana Marcum, who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on Californians impacted by the drought, puts a face on the crisis in this Los AngelesTimes story about a farmer trying to make a living on a small farm, growing pistachios. We feel his frustration and pain when he and his wife have to make tough decisions after their water allotment is cut to zero.
But California is not alone. This article in Business Insider makes clear that many of us, across the country and around the world, will likely face similar water issues in the coming years.
Enough bad news.
Imagine seeing one of these birds with its nine-foot wingspan come in for a landing in your backyard. The endangered California condor lives in Arizona and California and is rarely, if ever, seen in New Mexico, but one made its way to Los Alamos (about 30 miles northwest of Santa Fe) last week. My favorite part of this story in the Santa Fe New Mexican is that the yard belonged to a birding enthusiast who had traveled to the Grand Canyon hoping to see recently released condors with no success. What are the odds one would show up in his yard?
Enjoy your weekend and spend some time outside!