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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Siberian Tigers

By Si Dunn

Tragically, zoo tigers once again are in the news. On Christmas Day, 2007, a Siberian tiger somehow escaped or was let loose from captivity and killed one person and badly injured two others at the San Francisco Zoo. Police officers fatally--and correctly--shot the Siberian while it was in the process of savagely mauling one of its victims. Nothing else could be done at that point. Even though the tiger had been born and reared in captivity, it reverted to its nature once it was out of its enclosure.

Where possible, wild animals should be protected and given sanctuary in their natural habitats. This should include very strict enforcement of anti-poaching laws. Numerous animal species, including tigers, are prized in some cultures for their pelts, paws, meat, organs and blood. Poachers can make many thousands of dollars off animals such as tigers and gorillas by selling them, in pieces and vials, in international medical and souvenir black markets.

One example of poacher economics: Fewer than 400 Siberian tigers are still alive in the snowy forests of Far Eastern Russia. But a billion people want them made into rugs and drugs. In a cruel twist of the laws of supply and demand, each endangered tiger now is worth tens of thousands of dollars to thieves willing to kill and steal the animals from nature preserves and zoos.

Unfortunately, many nations are letting economic development--some of it illegal--encroach on their nature preserves. Wild animals are being forced into smaller and smaller spaces that can only support fewer of their species.

More should be done--now--to protect animals in the wild and animals in zoos, just as more should be done to protect zoo visitors wishing to see magnificent creatures up close.

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