
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995                   TAG: 9505110019
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-10   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: JOE HUNNINGS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOOD STEWARDSHIP OF WATER, SOIL IMPORTANT TO ALL LIFE

Water is the lifeblood of the universe. From babbling brooks to salty seas, it ties together mountains, hills, swamps, farms and cities in a constant cycle of life and renewal. Water is found in plant roots and stems as well as the veins and flesh of all living organisms. It carries the nutrients needed by plants and animals in order to survive. The process of water moving through the environmental system is called the water cycle.

Each of us uses this most common, yet essential, element daily. We use water to quench our thirst, for cleaning and cooking, to flush away wastes, to irrigate lawns and crops, to water pets and livestock and to manufacture products. We use water without thinking how fortunate we are to have the water that is essential for our survival. Where water is available, it is too common to consider; where it is not, it is the only thing that matters.

For most Americans, water usually comes from a pipe, connected to a public water system. It seems automatic. Turn on the faucet and out comes fresh, clean water. Few families now remember the anxiety as the first water well on their land was drilled, resulting in a supply of water necessary for survival.

Now, water is pumped into the house and works just like any other system. For most farm and city dwellers alike, clean and ample water is simply "there."

As populations rise and economics intensify, the full impact of past errors of human society comes into view. We are periodically reminded that water is dependent upon how humans treat the environment. Where people act responsibly toward the environment, the earth provides needed sustenance. Where people destroy, degrade or pollute the world around them, they or their children may pay a terrible price. That price may be first realized when water vanishes or becomes unusable.

Around the world, water is showing disturbing signs - all of which point to the land and how people are treating it. The price of human impact on the land is evident. In many regions of the world, the cleansing capacity of water has been overwhelmed.

Today, the water in major parts of Africa and Asia carries diseases that reflect the overwhelming influence of human populations. These diseases are responsible for the vast majority of infant deaths in those regions. Even in the pristine back country of the Western United States, a drink from a cool clear mountain stream is no longer safe because the widespread occurrence of giardia, a serious health hazard caused by bacteria, unknown in the wilderness prior to the 1970s.

These problems, and many others, present a serious challenge to the people who believe that humans hold a special responsibility for the stewardship of water resources. Disease and pollution in water signal an imbalance on the lands through which those waters cycle. Imbalance on the land means sickness in the plant and animal populations that dwell on those lands.

Adapting our growing societies to the limits of the natural world is a challenge that affects each and every living thing. Each person has a responsibility to do his or her best to meet that challenge so that the water resources may continue to flourish and future generations may enjoy tomorrow the water resources of today.

For information concerning soil and water resources, call the Soil and Water Conservation District, 382-3262.

Joe Hunnings is the Virginia Cooperative Extension agent for agriculture in the Montgomery County Extension Office in Christiansburg. If you have questions, call him at 382-5790.

by CNB