I have tried to be a good earth citizen since the attempt to reduce garbage load was begun.

However, now that the State of Texas is in the most severe drought since known recording of annual rainfall amounts, I have been terrified that the most important resource, my water, might not be there.

When I was a child growing up in a farm family, I remember the terror that my parents experienced when their pump for their ground water (their only water source) began to pump air instead of water. If that water failed, we would have no money to pay the property taxes. We were already having to buy feed for his cattle our only source of income, which ordinarily my father didn't have to do because there was enough grass in the summer and he grew oats for winter feeding. What is amazing is that the local feed store gave all the area farmers/ranchers feed on credit for several years to keep the farmers/ranchers going. You probably won't find the same conditions these days!

So, I started having the same gut-wrenching feelings when my pump took 2 days in 2009 to fill my water storage tank. I put in a rain-harvest system as a consequence. I also started a rule for myself, that is, water must be used more than once, if not more, for each beginning intended use. From childhood, my father always monitored and required careful water use. You were not to leave the tap running while you brushed your teeth and you were sure to get a knock on the bathroom door if he heard the bath water running too long. I got serious about water use and started bathing only once a week and using that water to flush the commode with a bucket. I hand washed all dishes with the minimum amount of water and used that water to water food-growing plants.

I only used water for food-growing plants and trees outside except for a row of trees on the west side of the house to reduce heat in summer.

The rain-harvest system has worked perfectly even in the years of 4 to 6 inches of rain. I have three 3,000 gallon tanks and they have stayed full with my careful household use. I still use ground water for the garden and the animals, as it has continued.

This reminds me of the 2009 film, "Blue Gold World Water Wars," where they describe the importance of water and how it is being depleted world-wide. I watched it about a month ago on [url=movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Blue_Gold_World_Water_Wars/70113047]Netflix[/url].

After homesteading on land that got under 11" of rain a year, Darrel and I understood the importance of water and learned many methods of conserving it. We lived in another place with too much rain (about 160" a year), which helped us understand other things as well. In finding a long-term place to farm and live we required that place to have, among other things, several different methods of obtaining water off the grid as it is indeed important. Agreed.

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Aloha!

-Janie

The water is one of the most important resources indeed. We can take better care of it by using our own means such as described in this post. The main point is to understand the importance of our efforts and bear responsibility for our actions towards nature.