Why did I create Water for the Ages?
Water is life. This is something humankind learns as a child. Water, air, and sustenance are critical to survival. This blog was created as a place to share information about my passion – global water issues. Because water is an encompassing topic, primary subjects will include:
- Global Water Availability
- Decentralized Water Management
- Water Privatization vs. Water Commons
- Water Purification Mechanisms
- Gender and Water Issues
- Water and Sanitation Issues
Of special importance to me is the juxtaposition of the global economic system and water in developing countries.
“I understood when I was just a child that without water, everything dies. I didn’t understand until much later that no one “owns” water. It might rise on your property, but it just passes through. You can use it, and abuse it, but it is not yours to own. It is part of the global commons, not “property” but part of our life support system“
Marq de Villiers, WATER, 2000
Some background about myself.
My name is Abby. In late 2010, I finished a master’s program in Water Resources Policy and Management at Oregon State University and moved to The Dalles (Oregon) for a job with a local community college. This fall, I am moving to California to attend PhD program in Environmental Sociology. I believe:
- it is imperative global water supplies are managed to ensure availability for current and future generations of life;
- access to clean, fresh water and adequate sanitation are fundamental human rights, and;
- the current “global-framework” is not functioning in a sustainable manner for preservation of this precious resource but within this “global-framework” the opportunity exists to ensure sustainable and fair use of water throughout the world.
To understand more about my passion in the field, a brief biography might be helpful. I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. 
As a child, my sense-of-place was realized during daily adventures on moss-covered forest floors, running through cow-fields to evade the neighborhood bull, and swimming in local creeks with friends. I did not realize at the time what lasting reverberations these experiences would cause in my life as an adult and the depth of commitment to nature that was ingrained into my being.
Water was a natural transition in regards to my studies. I have always been a lover of H2O in all forms: rivers, oceans, thunderstorms, and snow. For some time now, I have been working in the watershed field. Beginning work as an environmental educator in the Tennessee Valley, continuing to study sustainable agriculture and forest restoration in Central America, leading to managing water resources in Washington, attending graduate school in Water Resources Policy and Management, and getting ready to attend another graduate program in Environmental Sociology. My primary areas of interest are 1) gender, water, and sanitation in relation to empowerment and 2) social engagement in watershed protection.
Contact me to continue the water discussion, with questions, or to share ideas for new posts.
This is going to be a GREAT blog..Good going Abigail
this blog is getting better and better way to go Abby!
Wow, this site is so great, I thought this site was a huge organization! Nice work. Thank you for sharing information on this topic. You are my personal hero- As I am not as connected with water, I appreciate your passion…Thank you!
By the way, this is the first blog I’ve ever commented on…
OMG, what a cute pic and well written “about” section!
Great material – let me encourage you to keep on going!
Hey Abby…
this is the only blog I have ever seen, and thus the best (though paradoxically NOT the worst) I must say that I am impressed… I am very lucky in that I live on an 8 mile long peninsula and the well water is excellent as well as plentiful. The rest of the world does not have that luxury.. I recently heard that the mighty Colorado River no longer reaches the Gulf of Mexico.. It is used up before reaching its natural destination. How sad. I will definitely explore this site when I get back home.. thanks Abby
Hi. I’m an editor at http://www.alternet.org and am interested in being able to repost some of your blogs for our newly launched Water section. Please let me know if this is possible.
Thanks,
Tara
Great blog!!!
Hi Abigail – great blog.
You might be interested in a blog where you can follow an experiment which is spending at least 10!!! times less water to grow vegetables in dry or very dry regions. Not only that, the solar dripping system (Kondenskompressor) purifies ‘bad’ water, which means that you can grow plants and vegetables sensitive to brackish water. The best : It doesn’t need electronics nor any other technical know-how, it’s recycling and doesn’t cost anything! Gratis for the entire world.
The blog is written in Spanish, and an English translation will be coming.
http://kondenskompressor.blogspot.com
regards
Hi Abigail,
Feelin’ lucky to have stumbled across your chunk of the internet here.
A very thoughtful compendium of resources and news. Water’s a topic very close to my heart as well–I also have a background in watershed management, with a bit of groundwater contamination and public drinking water management tossed in for good measure.
Cheers!
Bravo, Abby,
This blog is great. Hope you will have the juice to keep it up while you move on.
I know you won’t forget us up here in the Chehalis watershed.
Pete
Thanks Pete.
I will most definitely never, ever, ever, forget about all the wonderful people affiliated with the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust (http://www.chehalislandtrust.org/) and the Chehalis River Council (http://www.crcwater.org/). You all are doing such amazing things in the tranquil (and, at times, tumultuous) Chehalis River watershed. From you all, I have learned that volunteer citizen groups master accomplishment.
Future generations thank you.
There’s lots of information in what you have written, but you skipped nimbly over exactly what you replaced your faucets with. I didn’t do well on e-searching for replacement bathroom faucets that are low-flow. Can you direct us to more resources for this?
Also, eventually you will have to mention garden irrigation–I don’t mean LAWN, I mean the edible landscape. I grew up during a drought in Texas and endured the drought starting in ’75 in California before moving to…drought here in Knoxville, TN. It is raining steadily here and has been since mid-December, but this is the first really serious rains we’ve had in about 4 years (not quite normally wet for a few before that). The rainbarrels were empty and I was beginning to be seriously concerned about all the trees, not to mention the native plants adapted to 48″ a year. Otherwise, our water use is quite low, deeply sensitized by all that dry experience.
thanks also for postiing the public domain art. what a great site this is becoming.
You are welcome, Margaret. I would like to have time to add more sometime.
g-r-e-a-t——-!!!!!
I am very fascinated by this blog. Recently, I was searching about water journalism, but I didn’t get any authentic information about water journalism. Your blog is very helpful to anyone who interested in water and water-related issues. I don’t know why you have not mentioned the invasion of multi-national companies on natural resources.
Hi, Abigail
This is a really unique, exciting, blog. I am just beginning my studies of environmental engineering at Lane/OSU and will be utilizing your blog for a writing class I’m taking. Thanks for your hard work and dedictation. Dena
Hi, Dena. Thanks for your comment, and I’m sorry about the delay in reply. I’m not sure that my blog is the best to use for a writing class – ha – but I’m so excited to hear about your studies in environmental engineering at OSU. Go Beavs. If you ever want to chat about h20, send me a message on my blog. Cheers.
Hi Abby,
I’m loving your ideas here! I’m currently the social media intern for a very small and very nimble non-profit organization called Bank-On-Rain (http://www.bank-on-rain.com/). We are working towards grassroots solutions for clean water access in developing countries with World Water Partners (WWP: http://worldwaterpartners.org/) and Peer Water Exchange (PWX: http://peerwater.org/). Right now we are working on a rainwater catchment system for a school in Rwanda.
Sounds like these are the kinds of projects you are interested in? You should definitely check out our blog. Our latest post is on WWP’s project to get water filters in all the health clinics in Haiti (http://bank-on-rain.posterous.com/will-we-still-be-talking-about-access-to-clea).
Let me know what you think
Emily Berg for Bank-On-Rain
Hi Abby,
Great website, we will reccommend it on mine. Your story is very similar to mine, I am a recently graduated Masters student who is passionate about water. If you have time check out my website, http://www.tastethewater.co.uk , which is similar to your blog, except it focusses soley on water and sanitation in developing countries. I would be happy to work with you in some way.
Kind regards,
Tastethewater