The earth’s most plentiful resource? Maybe not.

by C. Commisso

February 18th, 2008

Water is the kind of thing you don’t think about much. Until it’s in short supply. And the South isn’t the only part of the country affected by dwindling supplies of water. The Scripps Institute of Oceanography just released a study that suggests Lake Mead, the primary source of water for the desert city of Las Vegas, will dry up by 2021 if water usage isn’t curbed. That’s just 13 years, folks. Check out this pictorial essay.

I’m sure the government will come up with all kinds of programs and initiatives with horrible logos and dump millions of taxpayer dollars into research to come up with an answer…but I’m thinking maybe the answer starts with each one of us taking a hard look at how much water we consume. Without changing any of my habits, I made a mental note of my water use this morning:

• Discovered the kitchen floor soaked from an under-the-sink leak
• Flushed toilet
• 20-minute shower that left the hot water heater just about empty
• Left water running while I brushed three kids’ teeth and my own

Now, I’m not a scientific expert, but I’m going to venture a guess here that I used up — wasted, even — a lot of water this morning. So it got me thinking about some ways that I can start reducing my water consumption (and sorry, but I think I’ll pass on the old “If it’s yellow, let it mellow” adage). But I can turn off the water while brushing teeth. And, as much as it pains me, I can take a shorter shower.

But first things first: adding the leaky kitchen pipes to the honey-do list.