WANT WET WATER

I can’t believe this place can be found on the same planet as…

this place.

This one will be short and sweet about water—which has been on my mind since we’ve been roaming around places that have little of it lately.

Rivers and Roads

The sweet smell of fall touched the Colorado front range this week. We have about 3 months left of road life and I am already feeling the nostalgia creep in. Maybe it was the combination of crispy perfect 65 degree nights, the coming together of college buddies and their growing families and starting to peek at jobs, but I am just feeling wedged between the intense desire to soak every last minute of joy and wonder out of each passing moment as a traveling team, and… planning for the future.

The future. It’s looming like a storm cloud in the distance that could either bring terrifying winds and torrential rain, or a plant perking shower. Will I be lucky? Maybe it just depends on how I look at it.

We started the last few weeks in 110-degree Moab, providing a two-day training program to the National Park and Forest service and then immediately reared back around to Denver. In Denver, we met up with my friends from college, and then spent a few days camping at a Denver area reservoir. This body of water was open to some recreation like paddle boarding, but because it supplied much of the municipal freshwater, there were lots of use restrictions and an emphasis on invasive species prevention.

After the stop at the reservoir, we had the chance to catch up with the two other Leave No Trace Traveling teams. Since we educate all across the country, having our paths cross all at once is a rare occurrence. We told tales of the road, shared expertise, and naturally, filmed some videos.

There is something really special about spending time with the other teams. I think it is because they understand the realities of our lifestyle first hand. They know how much rain puts a damper on things, and the agony of arriving at a campsite late at night only to find that the gates are locked or there are no spots left. They live just as much life in the front two seats of their car as we do and have figured out their own system to balance work, play, and personal time—particularly when all those things are done in such close quarters with one other person. Each team has such a wonderful perspective on adaptability and taking opportunities and surprises as they come. I admire aspects of each of them, and am so glad to have had the time to get to know them a little better.

Things You Didn’t Notice

WATERS UP WITH THE TAP

It’s the little things in water that make all the difference. And by little, I mean microscopic. I always judge the tap water we come across in our travels, but I also always judge people who favor bottled water brands. So why do people like different flavors of water, when I thought the point of water was to have no flavor?

Water tasting can be a profession, and the taste of water can get competitive.

Not only are there professional water sommeliers, there are also taste test competitions between municipal water treatment areas. Tap water comes from many different places—the ground, rivers, lakes, and engineered reservoirs. Each source contains contamination risks and supply benefits. For example, ground water is often kept cleaner because it has the buffer of the earth between it and contaminants, but it is harder to manage and monitor because it is underground. Reservoirs are easy to see, but also lose water to evaporation and are more easily contaminated. Since municipal water is cleaned based on the contamination of the source, there are some places that are able to retain the naturally occurring minerals in the water and some places where those are removed in the purification process. And minerals affect taste.

Often our municipal water is adversely affected by the pipes that distribute the water to our homes and through our buildings. Water might come out of the treatment plant clean but pick up lead from the pipes in our houses. It is good to know how old our pipes are and what they are made of. EWG, a nonprofit with a database on detailed water quality results from most municipalities across the country (look yours up here!), might simultaneously frighten you with the statistics of what is getting in your water, but then follow up immediately with the statement: bottled water is not the answer—filters are.

It is difficult to escape plastic consumption when we drink from plastic water bottles and bottled water tastes weird sometimes. Bottled water has been shown to contain many minute pieces of nylon and PET (the materials used to make the bottles and the water filters cleaning the water). To get the best water, we want to protect and promote water sources that are able to keep in the good stuff—minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc—and keep out the bad stuff—like viruses, plastics, and PFAS.

Hot Topic

FRESH WATER CONSUMPTION

We use more fresh water now than ever. But where is it all going?

The USA has some of the highest freshwater withdrawals per capita, but most of that water is actually going to industrial uses. 39.7% goes toward agriculture and 47.2% goes toward industrial use. This means that though we were are getting increasingly good at minimizing our household water demand with efficient washers and shorter showers, what we purchase and how those things are made or grown puts a bigger dent in our water supply.

Often we measure environmental sustainability of industry in terms of green house gas emissions, but water intensity as a sustainability metric is increasingly important and has a different tale to tell. Since every living thing needs water to survive, taking up massive quantities of water can have major downstream impacts. For example, the Colorado River supplies water to Salt Lake City, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Mexico, but it often runs out of water before it gets into the Gulf of California, sometimes before even to Mexico, leaving behind an alien landscape. Major research projects have been undertaken to collect a full account of where that water goes. In the case of The Colorado River, most of it goes to agriculture. Cuts are having to be made, and often it is up to the states to determine how those cuts are distributed across farming, industry, or households.

As the climate changes and as populations grow and shift, water stress and scarcity can become geopolitically challenging.

Industrial processes that produce thermoelectric power, metals, wood, paper products, chemicals, gasoline and oils are particularly water intensive. Increasing efficiency and minimizing our consumption of these products not only can minimize greenhouse gas emissions, but our water stress as well. Foods are also not made equally. Some use much more water than others to grow.

So drink that sweet fresh water and savor it. Water is not something we want to take for granted. And eat more peas.

Refresh

• Household: Why is recycling so darn confusing!?

• Mentality: Can we track happiness? One guy tried to. Read up on our state of happiness and what was uncovered when one guy recorded his feelings every 15 minutes for years.

• Community: An urban development tale as old as college.

• Health: As my mom used to tell me as a child… “GO OUTSIDE.” Here’s some inspiration to get out.

Mouthwatering

MY SALAD ROMAN EMPIRE

It’s got it ALLL. And also very few things? It’s so simple, it’s so easy, it’s got everything you need for a rich punchy pasta salad.

Ingredients:

Roasted Chickpeas

• 1 can chickpeas (15 oz)

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Dressing

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 4 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 1 garlic clove

• 1 tsp nutritional yeast

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• 4 tbsp water

Salad

• 8oz pasta, cooked according to package directions

• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (omit for vegan)

• 5 cups shredded kale

Game Time

GOALTIMATE

This past week I played pickup ultimate for the first time in 6 months. I estimate I ran about 7 miles, much of it sprinting. The next day, if I dropped something, I physically was incapable of bending to pick it up. I was so sore…which is a sign that I need to get in better shape... but alas—maybe you are the type the idea of tossing discs but don’t like running full length fields. Maybe you wish you got the throw and catch the disc more. Maybe you are bored of ultimate and want something new. Goaltimate might just be for you.

https://www.usagoaltimate.org/rules