The ranch had a shallow well and a dugout. Between the two of them, domestic needs were satisfied, provided some caution was used.
You didn’t leave the tap running while waiting for the right temperature. You didn’t watch the water gurgle down the drain as you brushed your teeth. You didn’t rinse every dinner dish to remove that last soap bubble.
Water conservation was a way of life. Sufficient quantity was the first concern; without that, quality was moot.
As for cattle and crops, Mother Nature was called upon to provide. Usually she did. Sometimes she didn’t. Those were the years the creek dried up and a bunch of wet gunny sacks were kept by the door for quick access to fight fires.
Read Also
Late season rainfall creates concern about Prairie crop quality
Praying for rain is being replaced with the hope that rain can stop for harvest. Rainfall in July and early August has been much greater than normal.
Compare that to urban lawn sprinklers and tiny loads of laundry and the thousands of flushes and baths and showers and rinses. Such profligate use seems standard to those raised in the city, but it’s borderline barbaric for those from the “every drop is precious” school.
There is a faction who are doing their part to educate water wasters.
“Do I hear water running?” they shout at all housemates, roommates and visitors. The offenders cower and shut off the taps, shamefaced upon hearing the tales of drought and water conservation that inevitably follow.
The lecture is less effective during rainstorms and floods, yet that deters few avid water conservationists. But these days attendance at this “precious drop” school is growing steadily.
As southern Alberta suffers in drought and most of Saskatchewan also searches the heavens for rain, there are many watching their water consumption.
The cows are eating hay, long after the grass should be lush enough to sustain them. Grass fires are rampant, when the spring moisture should prevent them. Trails of dust follow field equipment, tell-tale banners of thirsty earth.
On land served by irrigation, low water reserves have forced some tough crop decisions. Rationing is a probability for some and a possibility for many others.
With need for moisture of this magnitude, it won’t help much to fix that dripping faucet. It won’t help much to turn down the hot instead of turning up the cold in the shower. It won’t help much to plant fewer thirsty flowers or allow the lawn to look less green.
But it won’t hurt, either.
