December 2015 Newsletter
Recharge: Water, Water Everywhere
Winter is the season of recharge, to pause, observe and be still. Stillness births reflection. This December, as flooding rain drops leave interlacing ripples across brown puddled fields, we reflect on last summer's drought. Climate scientists claim that the regular pattern of dry summers and wet winters will only get more extreme here in the Pacific Northwest. As global temperatures rise, glaciers melt, annual snow packs continue to dwindle, and we must begin to pay attention to something most of us have previously taken for granted - water. While nations are creating plans to move towards zero carbon emissions, at home and within our neighborhoods, we must work collectively to change personal behaviors for greater resiliency and carbon reduction.
As climate weirding amps up, we must develop resilient systems that work. Most people of the Samish Watershed draw from private or community owned wells for home and garden. Climate trends tell us that we will increasingly depend on rain water catchment and conservation. This winter the Chuckanut Transition group will begin to share stories around the topic of water conservation, collection and rights. Please stay tuned.
Last month I read, The Water Knife by award winning author Paolo Bacigalupi, which made my imagination shake and shiver over possible future power struggles regarding water usage. Because all good fiction is rooted in reality, I was not shocked to read shortly after a Cascadia Weekly article on the Ten News Items the Media Ignored, which included the story of private investment firms, like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and the Carlyle Group, that have been maniacally buying up public water rights around the world and the growing public resistance in response to this dangerous trend.
It is easy to get caught up in the macro picture, which is frankly overwhelming and terrifyingly complex. However, a huge part of the plan is to simplify, de-globalize and re-localize. Can you say, "Chop wood, carry water." Now in the spirit of Transition...let's say it together.
~Sarai Stevens
Newsletter Editor
Recharge: Water, Water Everywhere
Winter is the season of recharge, to pause, observe and be still. Stillness births reflection. This December, as flooding rain drops leave interlacing ripples across brown puddled fields, we reflect on last summer's drought. Climate scientists claim that the regular pattern of dry summers and wet winters will only get more extreme here in the Pacific Northwest. As global temperatures rise, glaciers melt, annual snow packs continue to dwindle, and we must begin to pay attention to something most of us have previously taken for granted - water. While nations are creating plans to move towards zero carbon emissions, at home and within our neighborhoods, we must work collectively to change personal behaviors for greater resiliency and carbon reduction.
As climate weirding amps up, we must develop resilient systems that work. Most people of the Samish Watershed draw from private or community owned wells for home and garden. Climate trends tell us that we will increasingly depend on rain water catchment and conservation. This winter the Chuckanut Transition group will begin to share stories around the topic of water conservation, collection and rights. Please stay tuned.
Last month I read, The Water Knife by award winning author Paolo Bacigalupi, which made my imagination shake and shiver over possible future power struggles regarding water usage. Because all good fiction is rooted in reality, I was not shocked to read shortly after a Cascadia Weekly article on the Ten News Items the Media Ignored, which included the story of private investment firms, like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and the Carlyle Group, that have been maniacally buying up public water rights around the world and the growing public resistance in response to this dangerous trend.
It is easy to get caught up in the macro picture, which is frankly overwhelming and terrifyingly complex. However, a huge part of the plan is to simplify, de-globalize and re-localize. Can you say, "Chop wood, carry water." Now in the spirit of Transition...let's say it together.
~Sarai Stevens
Newsletter Editor
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