March 13, 2018

Water Clock

When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.  —Benjamin Franklin
                                                              
 The question that dominates my waking hours now is—
When Day Zero arrives, how do we make water accessible and prevent anarchy?

            —Helen Zille, Premier, South Africa’s Western Cape Province, 
now in the midst of the worst drought in a century.

Is the water crisis in Capetown a harbinger of what’s coming next to the planet? 

Capetown, a city roughly the size of Los Angeles, has been threatening to have a “Day Zero,” when the city shuts off the municipal tap and begins to ration water to homes and businesses. The third year of a drought, insufficient dam capacity, lack of water conservation, and political mismanagement have contributed to bring Capetown to the brink of disaster.

Similar warnings accompanied by rationing have hit Mexico City, Melbourne, Australia, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jakarta, Indonesia, the Marathwada region of India, and the state of California.

Climate change, population growth, and overdevelopment have forced cities in drought regions to consider how to collect, protect and if necessary ration water—The fate of the planet hangs in the balance as we try to figure out the answers about water—a precious commodity facing depletion in the 21st century.


Vessel # 56 Release
Water Clock
Breaking barriers, forming rivulets,
                                     shaping rocks, eroding structures,
                                                         rearranging the Earth, dancing with abandon.

                                                                                             Rushing with urgency,
                                                                             obstinate dripping,
                                    spinning, merging— constantly shifting.

Sustenance receding, peril rising,
                                      a migratory witness, a vigilant player,
                                                                         marking time in instants and eons.