Conserve water everyday

It has been raining today and I love rain. I love the sound of rain, and I love the clean feel of everything after rain. This year it has rained a lot, and I am always amazed to hear people complaining about the rain. If you have had flooding, I apologize, I don't mean you. You have a right to complain. Some farmers have poorly drained fields and their plants haven't done well, and they have my sympathy. I am sure, however, that in many other years those farmers needed more rain.

In the summer of 1999 we were in the third dry year here in central New Jersey. My part of Montgomery was especially hard-hit, and I remember times when it rained an inch or two in Princeton and not a drop here. Full-sized trees were losing their leaves, and many have never recovered. The reservoirs in northern New Jersey were running low and there was a drought emergency in effect. That summer I vowed that I would never complain about rain again.

Rain makes plants grow. I never understand when people complain about water standing in the back of their yard. Why not plant wetland plants there? I understand if they complain about water in their basements; that is not good. But there are all sorts of beautiful plants that need lots of water, for example, cardinal flowers and swamp milkweed (see photos), river birch and sycamore trees, and ferns.

The real problem is not enough water. That is where the world is heading--not enough fresh water. Not enough water to drink or to water crops. Not enough water in streams, rivers, lakes or underground. And especially not enough clean water.

I've read that there are 60 million automatic sprinkler systems across the United States. Some of them no doubt leak underground, undetected. Some have sensors to turn them on only when the ground is dry, but some of them don't work. I have seen sprinklers going in the rain. I have seen sprinklers spraying people's driveways, decks, and septic mounds. Meanwhile, the groundwater slowly drops. Many of us here in Montgomery have wells. Did you know that even the water we get from the water company includes some groundwater, too? Everyone here needs groundwater, let's conserve it. Even when it won't stop raining.