Most of us have heard of “THE water cycle”- how water circulates continually between the earth and the atmosphere by a cycle of precipitation, infiltration/ drainage and evaporation and transpiration.
A “small water cycle” does the same thing, but within each watershed. In these small cycles, water that falls within a watershed sticks around and comes back to earth in the form of rain, dew, mist and fog. Keeping our water local- within our small water cycles- and teaching others how to also do so- is one of Sweetwater’s objectives.
Small water cycles need to recycle water within the watershed in order to maintain the local ecology, as wetter environments attract more moisture and dry environments repel it. Even with our local history of drought, we often ignore this law of nature by draining away “wastewater.” Each time that happens in a particular water cycle, it slightly decreases the amount of water that cycles within it.
Now we have entered yet another drought, which some claim will be our worst. However, there ARE things each of us, and all of us as a community, can do to make a difference and to make it easier for each of us/all of us. Beyond water conservation- a way of living in which we use innovative water sources as much as practical, and embrace a sense of place - can support a lifestyle of aesthetics, abundance and adventure. This is what we teach about and model at Sweetwater.
Soil naturally holds water in relation to the amount of organic matter it contains. Sometimes the organic matter is referred to as soil biology. An increase of one percent of carbon in soil will increase the water-holding capacity by 20,000 gallons per acre. Soil health also has dramatic impacts on infiltration and percolation rates, which affect how much rainwater soaks into the ground. Healthier soil means more infiltration and percolation, which in turn reduces flooding and erosion.
We can deliberately create the conditions to increase soil biology – through a combination of rainwater harvesting, mulch, climate appropriate plants and compost tea.
Desertification, on the other hand, shifts rain patterns, decreasing rainfall on lower elevations and increasing it in higher elevations. This breaks the small water cycle and allows the more violent large water cycle to predominate, leading to more severe storms and flooding. We have already been experiencing this across the globe. Restoring small water cycles is one way to rein it this effect of climate change and begin to heal our local region and the world.