PC ‘Permaculture’ analysis & report on NW U$ drout in mid ‘01
some causes, effects & potentials of water flow & need!?
by micheal sunanda
Permaculture is natural homesteading design science process that
analyses the local bioregional energy patterns, needs & cycles anywhere. I am a certified Permaculture designer now after studying ecology for 40 yrs.
This report is from my observations of drouts in western US, Hawaii & Asia. I took a trip into mid-Oregon Cascades this summer to learn how the water flows, to find the Mtn aquifers are very low, being the hidden underground reservoirs of mother natures water supply, leading to a big drout? There's already a water war in Klamath bioregion of SW Oregon, over the farmers need for water & governments policy to save water to protect the endangered species of fish in their dam reservoirs.
I went traveling in mid-OR Cascades after the summer solstice to observe patterns of nature now, after decades of camping out in summers from ‘40s on. Recent rains now make the forest & grass green, while most ground is dry & hard, But wild flowers are blooming. All the streams & river are very low, since last fall, now lower than low-levels of the usual fall drying-up of our underground watertable.
I saw most the forests growing taller, & no new clear- cut timber-lands, thanks to mother nature & Earth 1st for working so well! Also no full logging-trucks on main or mountain roads then, good!. The decades of wilderness & old-growth forest-preservers & tree planters has helped greatly, but the maze of new unused forest roads make it very assessable by vehicles, bike & animals now. Plus the growing drout is preventing most big logging from ‘hi fire danger’ dry spells. But many problems loom over water shortages & related stresses.
The Cascade Detroit dam reservoir is very low, maybe 10% of usual late-spring hi-level. Detroit villagers are very concerned now at extreme low, exposing 1000s of old bare tree-stumps, revealing the old clear-cut devastation, done before filling-up the mtn valley lake, now used for ‘recreation’. Will we have many wild-fires or plagues with this drout? We’ve take our great water abundance for granted, automatic supply. Now the complex eco-systems combine together to co-create the growing current water shortages in NW: OR, WA, & so. BC, etc. Last year No. midwest had huge wild forest fires in extremely dry fall. The drouts began last summer & fall in bioregional dryspells that continued thru very dry & warm winter & spring, with very low snow fall. The deep NW aquifer in the Cascades was not refilled & recharged! as it usually does from heavy rains in cold & wet seasons.
We need a full (invisible) watertable=aquifer supply to for all our local water needs & uses. So lets do a deep analysis of our minimum needs & current & projected supplies, from ground up,in our whole Columbia/Willamette watershed cycles. We are evolving in multi-patterns of natural-water-changes that effect us all living in the bioregion. I well, streams & ponds dry up, can we make some rainfall??? (another article on, extended drout, conservation & rain making?)
This rare-drout is fanning-fears of water shortages in summer & fall, stimulating a return of drout methods, old & new, being promoted in media & sold, in market sales & energy saving games, to conserve & profit from a crises! Even free info, PSA ads, workshops etc, on water-conserving. The looming NW drout=water crises has hit other areas for last 30 years, as we’ve heard lots about the California drouts. Can we benefit from their experience & learn more natural cycles of resources?
I heard the US Army Engineers been dumping mountain dammed water into the lower & Willamette rivers to maintain normal business & rec levels. Will our toxic-pollution-levels increase concentrations in our ‘pure’ water supplies, from failure of dilution (solution) that wasteful industry & sewage creates. Will more people get sick from water pollution & other toxins? or learn how-to conserve-water at home & in business. Will any social &/or health crises arise from lack water in 01 or later?
What happens in a drout? Land & air dry out, soil cracks, grass dies & most plants wither & die, if not drout tolerant. Long drouts make desert in some regions, killing most creatures. The hot-dry-air contains hi positive air ions, which stimulate & irritate nervous systems. So will anger flare up, neighborhood civil wars? Drout air lacks to wet & cool healthy negative ions so rich at shorelines, waterfalls, rapids & wetlands. Drouted people get feverish, overstimulated & bitchy, as the endless hot summer blast dries-out ones peaceful tolerance. Conflict is more common. Some get sick from not drinking pure water, while they eat more fast fat junk foods?!
The drout effects on growing-food maybe bad, if local water supplies
dry up. Some water conflicts arise, shortages stress farmers, growers & food processors. As air heats up, air conditioners, coolers, & electrical devises suck the power-grid, energy-costs may rise from lack of hydro-electric power generation, from low water levels at dams. Rising electric bills may cause protests & local energy conservation, is being planned by utilities, as they make more profit from power-shortages. Some bank-ruptcy can happen when water dependent business fails to produce &or make payments, from shortages, blackouts & huge power bills.
Long water-drouts can accumulate the stresses: the longer the worse it becomes, the “dust-bowl effect” blows away fertile food growing soil. Cities & farms suffer the most in drouts, besides the wild-fires so common in extreme dry seasons. Drinking water may become scarce, expensive & polluted, more than usual. The luxury of washing cars, houses, dishes, & watering lawns & public fountains may stop. In poorest nations, piped-in-water-flow happens only a few hours/day, when a family fills up ready containers. Having a home water-catchment is essential during shortage, not totally depending on central-water-import-systems.
In Hawaii, during a drout of no rain for a few weeks, many people owning (empty) water catchments, buy water trucked into home-storage-tanks, getting empty from lack of rain. In drout areas of no winter-snow-pack, that melts into watertable & rivers, extreme drying & fires can happen. Then when a storm hits, it can cause flooding by running off the hard dry soil, it may wash away, & cause landslides & mud avalanches, which kill many people yearly.
People who have water-wells or stream-feeds, will have advantage over the imported water supplies, if the well still flows. Water shortages can cause local conservation, cooperation & conflicts, depending on how close, trusting & flexible; or greedy, possessive & scared people are? Some folks will run to the river, lakes & seas for water play, beyond the shower, hose & closed swimming-pools. Debates may rage over water uses, purity & supply to certain groups & areas.
Some big dam reseviour water-levels become critically low & over-heated, killing fish & local tourism. The tourist towns focus on their immediate needs vs the downstream cities, industries, farming &or military uses. So we can learn how multi-functional, abundant & needed our pure water supply is, where we’ve taken it for granted for years & decades, assuming there’s an infinite supply?. Maybe a drout is the most compelling macro-weather trend to make us more aware of water supplies, waste, needs & how to share it trusting, learning, conserving & cooperating doing more with less in our communities. (ms 283-7040)