The short story that we read, The Tamarisk Hunter, gave the possibility of the future with global warming effects. It describes a land controlled by the government, where water is the scarce liquid gold that everyone needed to survive. In the story, Lolo, the main character, is making a living, in some respects, by saving the water.
The water is fought over and through that, two economic classes are formed in California: those with a surplus of water and those who have to work very hard to get water to live. The ones with the water control everything. The author, Paolo Bacigalupi, writes, “The problem was that 4.4 million acre-feet of water was supposed to go down the river to California. There was water; they just couldn’t touch it,” (Bacigalupi 174). The people who own the water are the upper class of people and that left everyone else to toil in the heat. It seemed as though this theme felt like one from 1984 by George Orwell. It agrees with the idea in that book that a large part of the population has an idea that they are being mistreated, but they have no true idea how badly they have it. In both stories, the lower class has no way of moving up to the higher class either. It gives a sense of jealousy, as well as a need to understand more. Lolo is unable to figure out how to get more water without stealing and he thought it would be his end.
This future, though fiction, is a possibility the way that we use water now. We use an incredible amount of water in our everyday lives, but as humans, we also waste way too much. In 2005, out of 349,260 million freshwater gallons per day used, 143,000 were used for thermoelectric power and another 128,000 were used for irrigation. Only 44,200 million gallons were used for public supply (Total Water Use). Thermoelectric power, which is the process of making steam to turn turbines which inturn makes energy, uses 49% of total water use in the US. (Thermoelectric Power Use). While the use of water for irrigation and thermoelectric power is very important, it is important that we cut down water use in general. It all starts with doing the small stuff of course: taking shorter showers, not running half-full loads of laundry, and not leaving the sink on. Along with the things that we can do as individuals, there are many uses of water that our society could eliminate as well. There are many uses of water that are just to look aesthetically pleasing. These occurrences, which can include huge fountains that waste millions of gallons a year, can be cut off in order to save water for our planet.
This is going to affect the entire world, not just the United States. According to an article by Iain Stewart, a broadcaster for BBC and a professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth, in as little as 15 years, half the world’s population could be living in areas with high water stress. Areas like this are places that have a hard time finding fresh water, whether that is above ground or below, to drink and live with. This is unbelievable at first, but it’s also crazy to think that 97% of the world’s water is salt water. The amount of fresh water we have is limited, and we must use it sparingly.
-Zach Bigley, 581 words
Work Cited
Bacigalupi, Paolo. “The Tamarisk Hunter.” I’m With the Bears. Verso, 2011. 171-190. Print.
Stewart, Iain. “How Can Our Blue Planet Be Running Out of Water?” BBC News. BBC. Web. 14
Jan. 2015.
“Thermoelectric Power Water Use.” Thermoelectric-power Water Use, the USGS Water Science
School. USGS. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
“Total Water Use in the United States, 2005.” , the USGS Water Science School. USGS. Web. 14
Jan. 2015.
It’s hard to imagine a place where water is limited. Ive only known water as a never ending supply and available whenever I need it. Whether it is too wash my hands or wipe down the counters or to fill the empty bowl for my puppy to drink. To think of a time where I will have to ration what I use is saddening. The fact this is what many others today have to do yet here we are using it at our own leisure. Preserving it now is our biggest opportunity for having it later.
As a Los Angeles native who has been experiencing a water drought for two years, I can definitely say that I’ve changed the way I look at water usage in my community and in my personal every day life. The Tamarisk Hunter resonated with me not only because California was in a drought, but it was a realistic look at the lengths our states will go in order to preserve their citizens’ well-being. I do not think California building a water pipe-line guarded by armed police in order to save its overpopulated cities is as farfetched as people think.
As I read this article it reminded me of when I flew through San Francisco this winter break. I flew over the Bay, which is this huge body of water, and then get to the bathrooms in the airport and the sinks to wash your hands only give out these little spurts of water at a time because they are in a drought. This really shows the difference between the amount of water in the world and the usable freshwater. The statistics shown here are very real, we need to be careful about our freshwater use. As California has been in a drought these last few years, when water needs get even worse they will probably be the first group to search for ‘water rights’ as they are already experiencing a shortage, so some of these aspects of the story of the Tamarisk Hunter are not too far out of reach.
With the drought that’s happening in California now, it makes me wonder: where is the next place that will be affected with water scarcity? Living in Las Vegas since my senior year of high school, I saw commercials and people emphasizing the importance of water (reminding people of their watering schedules). It makes me nervous for the future of Las Vegas’, especially since the cities population is growing at an incredible rate, water supply because by Vegas being in the middle of a desert, the citizens are VERY limited for water. Although Vegas hasn’t had any droughts, I still worry being as though California is not in the best shape.
We all fall guilty of using too much water. All we have to do is turn our sink or shower knob and ta-da, we have water; it’s literally at our finger tips. We never want to imagine a life/world without unlimited amounts of water, but that will be our future if we don’t start conserving. Like you said, we can address the issue personally by limiting our shower time, or turning off our sink between washing dishes or brushing our teeth. I know it doesn’t seem like one person can make a difference, but if we all do our part to conserve, we will be able to save our water supply.