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| Water, please |
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| Written by Elizabette Guecamburu - Hometown Girl / | |
| Wednesday, 26 September 2007 | |
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Take care of state’s most precious resource  Elizabette Guecamburu / Hometown Girl I love water — in fact, I’ve been known to down a whole 16-ounce bottle without coming up for air. It’s a warm afternoon, and I’m partaking of a lovely glass of water. In between sips, I think about how wonderful water really is — it tastes good, and it’s so darned functional! We can drink water, grow stuff with water, wash the stuff we grow using water and then cook the stuff we grow in water. We take this amazing substance for granted. When we go to our faucets and flip the lever, we expect water just to come out. But, the fact that water comes out at all is a feat of engineering, science, politics, nature and luck. Only 3 percent of the water on earth is fresh water — the rest is salty ocean water, unsuitable for human consumption or agricultural use. In addition, two-thirds of fresh water is tied up in glaciers and polar ice caps. That leaves only a tiny percentage available for our use. Most of the fresh water we use, especially here in Patterson, is drawn from underground sources, called aquifers. Aquifers can be gradually replenished by rivers and rainfall. However, if water is drawn out faster than it can be replaced, aquifers can dry up or become hard to reach. Water is more valuable than gold or oil. Countless wars throughout history have been fought over access to water. Indeed, even in our Central Valley, numerous conflicts and lawsuits have resulted over disputes about who has the right to tap into the precious aquifers. Development growth can put a strain on our groundwater sources as it competes with all-important agriculture, which relies on water to produce the food we all need. With the growth in our area and recent droughts that have severely slowed aquifer replenishment, I wonder how our groundwater supply will be tested. Already, I have heard quite a few instances of domestic wells going dry in the San Joaquin Valley, requiring landowners to dig newer, far deeper wells to find water. What will the future hold for Patterson residents? While these matters persist, I can at least be thankful for the water I’m drinking now — along with all the effort and sacrifice that delivered it to my faucet. No offense to soft drink companies, but I think I’ll stick with plain water. After all, if I don’t finish my glass, I can always use it to feed my plants. Elizabette Guecamburu, 25, is a writer and native Patterson resident. She accepts e-mails at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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