CONSERVING RAIN

 

 

Across The Fence

 

By Arvord Abernethy
April 2, 1981

 

I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet, and none of us will live to see it happen, but the day will probably come when water will become so scarce and expensive, due to expanded population, that people will resort to cisterns again. Many will be the old well-dug type cistern, but many will be on platforms so the water will flow by gravity into the house or to outside gardens and lawns. The average size house on an average rainfall year has about 27,000 gallons of water fall upon it. This may not seem much, but it would go a long way when people become more water conservative.

 

The best place to store surplus water is in the earth where the Good Lord laid down layers of rock and then layers of gravel and sand when he was putting this old earth together. He knew mankind would have to have springs, streams and places to dig wells in order to get water which is so necessary for life.

 

Already, work is being done to find ways to recharge our underground water strata which are getting lower all of the time. Out in the Panhandle there are large natural lakes that fill up in wet years, and efforts are being made there to put some of that water back into the ground through recharge wells.

 

In southwestern Oklahoma, where there is a lot of irrigation, a group of farmers got together and ditched runoff rain water into gyp sinks (that is a hole where the ground has fallen into an underground cavity) where it goes back into the ground.

 

Even here in Hamilton County we often have some clear streams of water that would furnish lots of water for recharging. We will never miss the water until the well goes dry.