Northwest of Taos, New Mexico, the mighty Rio Grande river flowed with a force sufficient to have cut a gorge 565′ deep.
It is hard for me to imagine how much time, how much energy, it took for this river to have created such a gorge in this area. Yet, traveling south, the river continues to flow, but has not etched itself so deeply into the earth.
Rivers provide sources of water for many things in our lives that we take for granted – irrigation of the fields that produce the food required for our subsistence, water for livestock and wildlife, to fill our aquifers, to flow into our oceans. Sitting beside a river, listening to the rush of the water, the burbles as the water flows over rocks, soothes our souls and releases our imaginations.
Just outside of Truth or Consequences in the southern part of the state, man built the Elephant Butte Dam in the early 1900s to interrupt the flow of the river, to reserve water.
When we visited the dam in March, the water level was low. How much of that was due to lack of rainfall and snow in the mountains and how much was due to March being towards the end of their dry season, I do not know.
I know only that it’s frightening – the way we use our water, our blind belief that it will last forever. Our failure to recognize that, like all natural resources, it is finite. It is not endless. Sustainability requires that we conserve, preserve, think to the future. South of Truth or Consequences, the flow this March was but a trickle.
We need to use enough, but not squander. Is mankind capable of doing this?
Appropo for the month of April, Carol. Great shots. Even better message.
Here is a site with some easy tips. Simple things that we just don’t think to do. I know I’m guilty of some and I’m glad to be made aware.
http://eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm
And another, a little more in depth.
http://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/
Thanks, Carol.
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Look at California. Makes you wonder. I love the pictures of the dam, though.
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Yeah. Water features in the desert?
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Carol — I’m oh so with you on this. The way we use mis-use water is frightening. I don’t know how we’ve come to believe that this precious resource — water — will last forever. It won’t. And yet we continue to squander it…
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A great reminder about our precious water resources. Having lived in a really dry country like Oman, and seeing what’s happening in California, I really worry about the future of this precious resource. Great pictures, Carol!
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Consequences is right. People don’t get the connection. I was talking to someone today who described all the water wasted on rich people’s lawns in Beverly Hills. An aunt in Malibu thinks they should pipe water down to California from the Northwest, but she doesn’t realize that we are facing drought up here, after such a mild winter, with snow levels practically non-existent. (And she is using huge amounts of water to keep her built-in pool filled). It’s a terrible situation, but we could all be doing so much more to alleviate the problem by conserving our water. Thank you for speaking out.
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And in California’s desert communities, water features are a big draw. Too many years of mindless waste.
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Gorgeous!
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No, mankind is prone to excess. But someday we will learn, right? I’ve always marveled at how water can be so soft and at the same time, so incredibly powerful….and destructive. These are gorgeous shots of the gorge! Do you think that word, gorgeous, has its roots in gorge? 🙂
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