25 Years Later and Again

Good reporting on the environmental and economic implications of the recent oil spill in Galveston Bay.

Oil Spill Fouls Coast on Valdez Anniversary

Texas oil spill leaves damaging mark on wildlife, shores

The Ethic

Ethic |ˈeTHik| - a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct

I recently attended the “Water in the Age of Uncertainty: A Southern California Response to Climate Change” conference hosted by the Council for Watershed Health and Climate Resolve.  The presenters were a distinguished group of researchers and administrators well-versed in the topics of water, climate change, and the connections between the two.  One presentation in particular struck a chord with me because of how it touched on public education and personal responsibility.  

Celeste Cantú, General Manager of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, 

included in her remarks the need for a water ethic.  This ethic includes considering the following questions:

1.     Where does your water come from? 
2.     How much water do you use?
3.     What do you put in your water before it goes down the drain? 
4.     Where does the water go after you have used it?

She is a strong advocate for public outreach - making information easily accessible and understandable for all stakeholders, but especially for the average citizen. 

At all times, but especially in this time of drought in California and other parts of the United States, a water ethic based on education and thoughtfulness is important.  Is it not also a responsibility of citizenship in our community?

Not only do we need a water ethic, but ethics for other resources such as electricity, natural gas, oil, and food.  I will delve into these topics in later posts.

This may seem overwhelming, but many utilities, municipalities, stores, companies, websites, and electronic devices are making this an easier endeavor. 

Utility bills from Southern California Edison, the Gas Company, and my local municipality all compare my current usage for electricity, natural gas, and water to previous months and years - #2 on the ethic list.  Keeping a log of this information is a great way to track usage and to begin the process of finding ways to reduce consumption or to even discover that you have a water leak somewhere.

The official website for my hometown informed me that the water supply for the city comes from three sources (#1 on the ethic list) - groundwater from wells in the Main San Gabriel Basin, groundwater from wells in the Raymond Basin, and imported treated surface water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).  The MWD sources water from the Colorado River via the Colorado River Aqueduct and the California State Water Project (the nation's largest state-built water and power development and conveyance system)  

What does this information tell me?  That the safety, quality, and quantity of local water resources are very important and that our need for H2O has created very complex systems that rely on water resources that are often very far from us and require large amounts of energy to convey.

Water is a valuable, but limited natural resource.  Conservation is key - #2 on the ethic list again. 

There is seemingly an unlimited number of resources available regarding water and water conservation. Please make use of these resources.  While you’re at it, see if you can answer the four water ethic questions!

“All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts.  His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in the community, but his ethics prompt him also to cooperate (perhaps in order that there may be a place to compete for).  The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.”

- Aldo Leopold, A SandCounty Almanac (1949)