The old days of TV
I’ve not subscribed to blue marble cable television for several years now. And I don’t miss it one bit. Probably because that $500 now buys more beer! If you are a blue marble home brewer, which I am, you’d understand!
With my travels, even in retirement, I have stayed in motels on occasion. As I left my room the next morning to check-out for my next destination, I’d catch the TV in the corner of my eye. I’d turn and think “Wow. I never even turned that darn thing on“. Then I’d smile and continue, suitcase in tow, to the lobby to relinquish my key.
And, more importantly, to grab that high-quality “free” breakfast in the “dining room”. That early morning gathering spot with the blaring TV hanging on the wall broadcasting unbiased news to fellow motel patrons, some still in their sleepwear.
All fun aside, albeit however the truth, I will admit that I watched my share of TV as a kid. You know by now Lassie was one of those shows. Cartoons were a big hit too: Roadrunner, Wiley Coyote, Foghorn Leghorn, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd (I’m thinking Elmer must have taught me how to hunt!).
That’s all folks!
As I was sitting here pondering my next blog about Wyoming Water Towers, wanting to discuss how water is a finite resource, my memory took me back to all those hilarious cartoons. I remember many of them ending with “That’s All Folks!” Those few words, I’ve determined, sum water as a finite resource pretty well too. So let’s explore and expand on that a little bit…
Looney Tunes clip - That's All Folks!
The blue marble
You know by now Boy Scouts was a big part of my childhood. The culmination of that experience was at an award ceremony sponsored by the Dan Beard Council, which covered the area where my troop was located. The ceremony was for scouts that had achieved the rank of Eagle the previous year. I was one of those being honored. Neil Armstrong, the first person to step on the surface of the moon, was the honorary speaker.
Neil Armstrong on the moon with OUR earth in the background
His keynote speech was nothing but inspiring. After he shared his perspectives, each of us Eagle recipients had the privilege of shaking his hand as we filed across stage. The autographed photograph of this American hero, in his spacesuit, sits to this day in my scouting years memorabilia.
Neil Armstrong, and his fellow astronauts and colleagues at NASA, provided all us a perspective of the world that we had never seen. That perspective was best captured in the first images of our world as taken from space. Our globe, our home, now known as “The Blue Marble“!
The marble in perspective…
This blue marble, our living planet, is blue because of water. And that water circulates our planet as a closed system called the water cycle.
This is what we have to deal with folks. This is IT!
There is no more. It is finite. It is all we have. That’s all folks!
So the next time you take a shower, or brush your teeth, or recreate on your public lands in Wyoming, think about that!
The water cycle in perspective…
So just how much water does this blue marble contain. Actually there is a lot. But much of it is unusable. In fact, almost all of it is unusable, as the global water distribution table below shows.
This table is very well described in words by the National Groundwater Association.
Earth is known as the “Blue Planet” because 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Water also exists below land surface and as water vapor in the air. Water is a finite source. The bottled water that is consumed today might possibly be the same water that once trickled down the back of a wooly mammoth. The Earth is a closed system, meaning that very little matter, including water, ever leaves or enters the atmosphere; the water that was here billions of years ago is still here now. But, the Earth cleans and replenishes the water supply through the hydrologic cycle.
The earth has an abundance of water, but unfortunately, only a small percentage (about 0.3 percent), is even usable by humans. The other 99.7 percent is in the oceans, soils, icecaps, and floating in the atmosphere. Still, much of the 0.3 percent that is usable is unattainable. Most of the water used by humans comes from rivers. The visible bodies of water are referred to as surface water. The majority of fresh water is actually found underground as soil moisture and in aquifers. Groundwater can feed the streams, which is why a river can keep flowing even when there has been no precipitation. Humans can use both ground and surface water.
In other words, well less than 1% of the water on this blue marble of ours is usable. As our world deals with increased population and a changing climate, and debates public lands, this is a scary number. We need to understand this. Our politicians need to realize this. The debate needs to include this.
What does “That’s All Folks!” mean to Wyoming Water Towers?
Well, if nothing else, it should make us realize water is an incredibly finite resource; an infinitely finite resource. A resource that is the most important ecosystem service provided to people by Wyoming’s water towers. The towers that discharge water into the Columbia, Colorado, and Missouri River basins of this great land of ours.
I’ll address this more in future blogs. In the meantime I encourage you to comment on this post (as well as earlier ones). As I said previously, I built this website to “serve as a medium for conversation about the importance of public lands, their hydrology and watersheds, and the ecosystem services they provide”. Blue marble water needs to be a significant part of the public debate.
Happy Holidays to your and yours. Be safe no matter where your travels take you!