Let’s get to it.  The time is past when we can be nonchalant about wasting water.  A little or a lot isn’t the bigger issue.  That we stop wasting any of it is.  When we started Friends of Water 9 years ago we were frequently repeating: “You think the oil crisis is a big deal?  Wait for the water crisis!  ”  In California, the crisis is here now. 

Water is the life-blood of the planet.  There is a limited supply of it.  Yes, sure desalination is possible – but don’t think that it comes cheap and easy or that there is no price to pay.  It may be the only viable solution in some times and places.  But it’s really hard to resolve all of the ecological impacts, including for example, potential damage to the salinity balance and aquatic life breeding grounds.

Get a bucket, put in in the shower stall or tub, and collect water while you are waiting for the water to get hot.  Use the water to pour into your toilet to flush it.  Use of the toilet is the how we use the most water in homes.  So you save water in two places with this one simple act.  Don’t flush unless you need to.

Tell the restaurants you visit to stop automatically putting water on tables – whether the diners want it or not.  We’ve got to build awareness of the severity of the problem we face.

The dust bowl is famous in American history. Yet we are approaching the end of a sufficient water supply in California and thousands of people aren’t doing a single thing to contribute to saving water.  The result is now headed toward drastically reducing farming in this area that produces enormous quantities of food.  And many thousands of people leaving the state as the economy collapses.  The cities won’t be able to sustain their current population levels.  And who will want to move to a state in extreme crisis anyway?

Please, it’s time now.  Raise your own awareness and share that with others.