Yes, I just quoted myself because I thought it was important.Originally Posted by ZUL8TR
You have to look at the ecosystem as a whole. You cannot just look at one county, one block, one yard. It is a whole. OK, so TD's water district has not issued a watering ban as of this moment, that doesn't mean one won't be possible shortly. Without knowing specifics of which district he is in, we can go off assumptions that
1. His district is somehow fine despite Indiana being in a severe drought.
2. His district is in denial
3. His district just doesn't care if the area is in a drought or not....just carry on business as usual so to speak.
Water tables and ecosystems are complicated things. Mother nature didn't want to make it too easy on us humans. The more draw on a water table, the worse the situation can get. Do a search on Google about the drains on their water tables and the sudden sink holes that pop up to swallow a home or three.
Creeks here in suburban Fishers are getting low. OK, its just a creek. So what you ask? Each creek flows to a stream. Each stream flows to a creek which flows to a river. If the water is being pulled out of the streams and rivers, then there is no water flowing downstream. OH yea, put is wells. Those are pulling from the water table underground. That contributes to the streams not having water since there is nothing to bubble to the surface. All water that flows from a creek to a stream to a river to the ocean does not come from rain landing on the ground and running off. It's the water table that needs recharging.
The more drain (no pun intended) you put on the water table, the worse the situation becomes. Think beyond just your yard, your street, your town. "Think Globally. Act Locally."
Do some of like our green lawns? Sure we do. Do we see it as a necessity during the time of a drought? Nope. The grass goes dormant. So what. There is always next year. At least we hope there is a next year. If we continue to believe in the Myth of Superabundance, we are doomed to squander our natural resources.
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be misquoted and used against you.
But TD's water is probably coming from a reservoir, not a spring, where it may have been destined to smply evaporate - and what happens to it once he applies it on his lawn? It doesn't "go away". Whatever isn't stored in the plants and aspirated back into the atmosphere either overflows to a stream or sinks into the aquifer, right?
If he didn't use it, and it didn't evaporate, it would just flow into the Ohio River, presumably, and find it's way into the Gulf. Who's that help, Cuba?
Keep in mind, TD's green plants are helping store carbon, just like the rainforest
Of course, I may be looking at this too simplistically, and I'm pretty sure you've made a better case for the actual hydrologic cycle than my frivolous examples here. Just bringing up some items for consideration
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Reservoirs are built on readily available water source which will be streams and rivers. They build a dam across the river to contain 'x' amount of water. Due to environmental regulations, they must still maintain the downstream health of the water shed. Water must continue to flow all the way to the Gulf. So water is finite, even during a non-drought. Additionally, as I stated prior, the water table is underground. The Earth is holding onto water. When there is an abundance, it trickles forth as springs. More springs combine to make a creek, more creeks combine to make a stream, more streams combine to make a river and that river gets dammed to make a reservoir. Yes, rainfall and runoff also feed this system. People that sink a well are pulling from the underground water table.But TD's water is probably coming from a reservoir, not a spring, where it may have been destined to smply evaporate - and what happens to it once he applies it on his lawn? It doesn't "go away". Whatever isn't stored in the plants and aspirated back into the atmosphere either overflows to a stream or sinks into the aquifer, right?
If he didn't use it, and it didn't evaporate, it would just flow into the Ohio River, presumably, and find it's way into the Gulf. Who's that help, Cuba?
Keep in mind, TD's green plants are helping store carbon, just like the rainforest
Of course, I may be looking at this too simplistically, and I'm pretty sure you've made a better case for the actual hydrologic cycle than my frivolous examples here. Just bringing up some items for consideration
The water table is replenished from rain and snowfall. In a drought, the water table is being drained. Think of it like a glass of water. As you drink, it gets lower and lower. If you don't add more, it will run dry. In a drought, you need to slow the drain on the water table to draw out its availability. Is one person alone responsible for the rest going thirsty? No. The problem is where there is one taking the "me, me, me" attitude, there will be more. So do you think Self or Community?
If the Indy area were to see overwhelming growth that stripped the existing water supply, then there would be nothing headed south out of the White River and surrounding water shed. That means everyone downstream would suffer from lack of water. So, it has been established above that there are crops being irrigated in Indiana. If those crops are downstream of Indy and Indy is using ever last drop of water per this example, then there would be zero water to irrigate those crops, thus no crops. In an earlier post I mentioned how the Colorado River no longer flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Below the US/Mexico border, there are no longer crops. This is all because people upstream decided their usage was more important than those below them. Self vs Community. Make sense?
As to your joke about Cuba. Once the river water reaches the Gulf, it mixes with salt water. Unless that financial, forward looking Cuba has desalination plants, they won't be drinking a drop of water that comes out of the sea. Like here, they rely on rain water and keeping their water tables healthy. Same thing all over the world. Look at many of the islands in the Caribbean where homes have cisterns to collect rain water for use in each house. This is because their water system cannot supply enough water for everyone. Need > Supply. That puts the natural system out of balance.
After my dad left NASA, he went to EPA. I was once what you would call a Tree Hugger. I did some studying on the impact of the myth of superabundance on the waters of the Colorado River. I also spent to many years hanging out with PhD Biologists that study fresh water streams and lakes. This tread hit on a deep seeded belief. After I first clicked on it, I knew I should have just walked away. Too late.
I rely on my water company to inform me when the water level is too low. When they do I will cut back. Until then I will continue to water my lawn as I see fit.
Center Grove Trojans
2008 5A Football State Champs
2011 Track State Champs
Mom says they are handing out citations on Indy's West side to those watering.
"Ride The Barrel & Get Pitted... So Pitted."
Unless he uses underground or drip system he loses an enormous amount to the spray in the air in evaporation, far more than the reservoir in a mass per unit, which may eventually land in my back yard thanks to the prevailing winds....appreciated, but I don't need more rain to keep mowing the lawn. The only real way to have a green lawn without the potential to be seen as a schlubb is using a cistern, but that is a little work and expense only the dedicated wish to do......it's far easier to put no thought into it and reduce a community resource simply because you can......but this is America where you have that freedom until it becomes a public disaster......now I've got to go mow the ******* lawn again, somebody keeps sending us rain.But TD's water is probably coming from a reservoir, not a spring, where it may have been destined to smply evaporate - and what happens to it once he applies it on his lawn? It doesn't "go away". Whatever isn't stored in the plants and aspirated back into the atmosphere either overflows to a stream or sinks into the aquifer, right?
If he didn't use it, and it didn't evaporate, it would just flow into the Ohio River, presumably, and find it's way into the Gulf. Who's that help, Cuba?
Keep in mind, TD's green plants are helping store carbon, just like the rainforest
Of course, I may be looking at this too simplistically, and I'm pretty sure you've made a better case for the actual hydrologic cycle than my frivolous examples here. Just bringing up some items for consideration
Last edited by Neshaminy; 07-25-2012 at 10:04 AM.
Katharine's Legge is in the gravel!--Jenks
__________________________________________________ ____________________
12-7-1941 Never, Never Forget 9-11-2001
no recycled water available up there yet?
When out restrictions are in effect, if you've got reclaimed you can go nuts with the H2O.
My mower and rain gauge are full of cobwebs.
Have a very blessed day!
Worthless trivia time that is somewhat related.
Lake Tahoe is a large natural lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The top couple of feet are actually considered a reservoir since there is a couple foot dam where the Truckee River exits the Lake. The Truckee flows downstream and ends at Pyramid Lake. From there, it goes nowhere. Its all evaporation and percolation in how the water disappears.
This is another water shed that has suffered from man pulling water out before it reaches its final destination. The water is used for crop irrigation, lawns and drinking water. Thanks to conservation, water now continues to flow into the lake and saves the endangered cui-ui, tui chub and the world famous Lahontan cut-throat trout.
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/loc...l-_1340940486/It appears that Johnson county is feeling more of a pinch than indicated in this thread.
We just got clobbered with another Tstorm that will linger for over an hour......I just mowed the ******* grass today, now the sun will hit it tomorrow and by the end of the weekend it will need another trim.......my trees are just not growing fast enough to kill the lawn......but in the distant future the day will be mine! The grass will be a memory!!
Sounds like SC. Blistering hot here for the past month. We do get the occasional late PM thunderstorm but everything is dry an hour after they blow thru.
So how come I still have to cut the front and back yard every weekend?
I didnt notice it until Mrs KevMc pointed it out but now our backyard is lush and green too
NoI dont water it.
The last thing I want it to do is grow more
Faster than a bullet from a gun
He is faster than everyone
Quicker than the blinking of an eye
Like a flash you could miss him going by
No one knows quite how he does it but it's true they say
He's the master of going faster. -George Harrison
Nice MONTH OLD article.
Is that all you got?
BTW, got a nice downpour today.
That sucks, now you'll have to mow your lawn too.
Thanks for your response. It is appreciatedReservoirs are built on readily available water source which will be streams and rivers. They build a dam across the river to contain 'x' amount of water. Due to environmental regulations, they must still maintain the downstream health of the water shed. ...
As to your joke about Cuba. Once the river water reaches the Gulf, it mixes with salt water. Unless that financial, forward looking Cuba has desalination plants, they won't be drinking a drop of water that comes out of the sea. Like here, they rely on rain water and keeping their water tables healthy.
.... This tread hit on a deep seeded belief. After I first clicked on it, I knew I should have just walked away. Too late.
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-as-th...2645961.column
No, I have more. Most of the streams here in central Indiana are spring fed, so they usually keep flowing. Problem is when the ground water is used to water enough lawns during a drought there are no more springs to feed the streams. In central Indiana, here, that is irrelevant due to the clay soil the farmers can't really irrigate anyway. But, if the spring fed streams do not travel to southern indiana which has to use the streams for irrigation due to a much more sandy soil (why Vincennes canteloupes are so good), then watering in central Indiana is harming farms in that area. Kind of what ZUL8TR was writing earlier. Also, what Sea Fury is writing, it is not just a local issue, even if there is no ban in the immediate area.
http://news.yahoo.com/report-shows-u...--finance.html
It doesn't look like the drought in the US will end anytime soon. Conditions are worsening rapidly.
In Chicago. Just looked at my front lawn, green. Local weather said we had an above normal amount of rain for July.
I just got 8/10 of an inch of rain this afternoon, just as my lawn was starting to lose it's green color.
Now if you had a cistern just think of the possibilities, you might have half filled a 2,000 gallon tank depending on your roof size. You'd have looked............forward thinking.
I have thought about it. Just seeing the water gush out of the downspouts made me think about it. Of course, some might accuse me of robbing water that would run into the street and into a stream.
I believe that's only in Colorado, where the state claims to own all the water in the airspace, and after it's landed......elsewhere stored water is always welcome.
My luck the dog would go roll in the grass and turn all green. We'd have to start calling her Dr Seuss if that happened.
If you can paint brown grass green then you can paint it any color you want... celebrate your individuality.
"Paint the Mother pink"... If that's what moves you.
What an interesting coincidence.
The weather channel has been running a piece on the drought and how quickly water evaporates during a drought. They used the 3 main reservoirs in Indy as examples.
First, all three are approaching all time low marks. They've become unusable for boaters to have to launch boats as all the boat ramps are high and dry.
As for evaporation, Indy area reservoirs are losing over 3/4" of water every day the temps exceed 100. They lose around 1/2" when the temps are around 95. If you have little to nothing to replenish the supply it's not hard to figure out how a water crisis could come up on a community if nobody is paying attention. I also remember during the SE drought just a couple years ago, Lake Lanier, one of Atlanta's main water sources, had gotten so low it was in danger of going below the the intakes the water company uses to pull the water out of the lake.
Fortunately some look past tomorrow, much like the Native Americans.....what's the old English saying? Waste not, want not?When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
~ Cree Prophecy
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