I stood at the kitchen sink not too long ago, staring as the water from the faucet filled up a pitcher of water. The light from the window glistened off of the moving liquid, sending sparkles of diamond beams as its shape changed. In that moment, that simple beauty of movement and light, I thought about the liquid filling the vessel; how vital it is to our very existence; how wonderful it looks in natural movement. In a world filled with chaos, there is order, natural law, and organization of which this simple liquid plays a major role in life on the big blue ball.
This may seem low brain activity to some, but in the world of convenience to which our society has become accustomed, we often overlook things which our ancestors struggled to obtain and which they treasured. There are places in the world where this life sustaining puzzle piece is scarce, impure, or unavailable. Though in the United States, we concern ourselves with the possibility it may be depleted, we are far and away from a time when our pioneer relatives had to carry it from a well or a stream into the cabin or soddie.
After giving water to the dogs, I used the same pitcher to fill up and water some potted vegetable plants on the deck, and some house plants. As I poured out replenishment, I stared at its crystal clear form; its liquid movement, and thought about that marvelous liquid. Beautifully clear; deliciously refreshing when it’s chilled, and when we are hot and dry. Nutritious to our crops, our livestock, and our own bodies. It is so essential to life, affecting every living creature on this earth. How is it possible that its abundance on this planet, its importance to all life on this celestial satellite be an accident?
This stuff is simply amazing. It hydrates us. It cleanses us. It cools us. It entertains us, as summer recreation, and in its solid form during winter as snow and ice. That same snow and ice, become things we curse and hate when they disrupt our lives and cause unwanted incidents. In force it is powerful – creating the erosion which shapes our world; wiping out communities as it floods the earth. That same power, generates electricity for our cities, and once powered great steam engines for railroads and shipping, setting in motion the industrial revolution.
Broken down by science, one of the two elements which make water, hydrogen, has the potential to create a bomb which is 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Driven by other forces, it rolls in massive waves upon the ocean capable of upending and sinking our most spectacular ocean vessels. It may fall as torrential rain, or it may drift gently down as snowflakes from the sky. We see grace in its changing movements and forms — beauty as it falls, mists, and fogs. We feel its calm when we watch the still, soft, warm reflections of a lake on a spring day, or the peaceful glow of a moonlit night on its surface. I remember fondly the gentle babble of a mountain brook outside a cabin window on a summer night.
A source of inspiration for our dreams, our art, our literature, and our songs, it has captivated, motivated, and debilitated man from the beginning. Lives gained and lost on its seas, worlds explored by traversing its expanse, and wonders discovered by diving its depths – it continues to offer wonders today.
It has played a role in every religion, empire, and historical collection of man. Our Bible speaks of its creation in the beginning. It was used in the baptism of our Lord and Savior by John the Baptist, and has been carried on by the Christian religion as a sacred step in acceptance of Him in our lives. It was worshiped by ancients; legends were created in its honor or fear; it offered motivation for discovery and exploration. It is considered sacred in religions and cultures.
Our science claims it as one of the building blocks of life. It has a life cycle of its own. Our space travel seeks it out on other worlds.
According to the USGS, seventy-one percent of the earth’s surface is water. Of that surface water, almost ninety-seven percent of it belongs to our oceans. That leaves just a little over three percent from other sources. Only about 2.5% of the earth’s total water volume is considered as fresh water, and of that amount, 68.7% lies in polar ice caps, permanent snow, ice bergs, and glaciers, locked away in the permafrost, as a solid. Much of life survives on a small fraction of the earth’s water. Ground water makes up about 30.1% of that meager 2.5% of fresh water, while surface water, found in our lakes, streams, and rivers, makes up about 1.2%.
Water is in the air we breathe. It is in our clouds. It is in our soil, though during times of drought it is often hard to fathom water exists in the hardened ground at all. It feeds our plants; it cools and heats our climate; it both connects our world and separates our continents.
Living things make up about 0.26% of the water on Earth. The human body is about 55% to 60% water, depending upon whether you are male or female, larger or smaller, fatter, or leaner. Our bodies contain around 11 gallons, or 42 liters of water, and we lose 2 ½ quarts of water through normal perspiration per day. During exercise we can lose 2 to 3 liters of water in an hour.
In this area, and in much of the central United States, we get most of our fresh drinking water from the Ogallala Aquifer, and it is the leading portion of what is known as the High Plains Aquifer System. This underground system is about 174, 000 square miles and spans into eight states. The Ogallala ranges from South Dakota to Texas, and runs from an average of 50 feet below the surface to 300 feet below the surface of the plains. It’s saturated thickness averages about 200 feet, with the thickest saturation at 1000 feet in west-central Nebraska.
The Ogallala is currently in a state of overdraft, which means it’s like a poorly managed bank account where more is going out of it than is coming into it. Ground irrigation beginning in the 1940’s caused the level of the Ogallala to drop from parts of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Kansas by as much as 100 feet. This was largely due to flood irrigation. By improving the ways in which we irrigate, becoming more efficient, we have slowed the rate of decline in the aquifer to about 2.7ft per year, but we haven’t eliminated the overdraft. While irrigation is critical to much of the plains, it is a troubling dilemma.
When we think about how important water is to us, we can’t help but marvel at this liquid life source we so often take for granted. Today, bottled water is a source of income for companies, and a staple in many homes. Desalination plants creating freshwater from the ocean operating in California, Florida, and even Texas, are helping make more freshwater available. Atmospheric water generators are being developed which separate water from air. Yet there are places where people struggle for fresh, clean sources of water.
So, next time you turn on the tap, look at it… see its beauty…recognize its importance… value its uses… appreciate its availability, and offer thanks for its creation. Without it, we would just be a collection of dust and minerals.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:2 (NASB1995)
