Water, Water Nowhere? And Who Can Afford to Drink It?

By Si Dunn

Texas writer Joe Nick Patoski perhaps is best known for his books and articles about famous musicians. His latest work, for example, is Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, published by Little, Brown & Company.

But Patoski’s real passion is water. “Water is life, period. We can live without oil; we can’t live without water,” he told attendees at “Writing a Wide Land: A Conference on Texas Nature Writing,” held April 11, 2008, at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

“Water is the most important issue of the 21st century in Texas—period. The price of water is going up. And it’s going to go way up,” Patoski warned.

Patoski, who lives with his family on a modest plot of land along the Blanco River in the Texas Hill Country, regularly practices water conservation, including capturing rainwater for use in his home and on his “ranchette.”

He also is an active environmental journalist, writing on water issues and other topics for The Texas Observer and Texas Parks & Wildlife, as well as national publications. Some of his other books include Texas Mountains, Texas Coast, and Big Bend National Park.

“Generally, people don’t care unless their tap is not producing water. All I want is for people to care,” Patoski told the conference attendees. “If they don’t, it (water) will go away. The one thing we can do about that is conservation.

“I am being a steward the way all of us can be," he emphasized. By working together and individually to conserve water, "every one of us can make a difference.”

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