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Living Water
John Moore
Sitting in church recently I listened to a sermon based on the scriptural text from John 7:37-38 about living waters. In this passage Jesus talks about living water which once taken keeps a person from ever thirsting again. Water is a familiar image throughout scripture from the creation story, the practice of baptism to its being turned into wine. The image of living water in the passage from John's gospel is a metaphor for a person's embracing and being filled with God's spirit. Like so many images in the Bible, this one makes much of the common things of life and is a powerful way to present a message about a relationship with God.
As I listened to the sermon and reflected on it's relevance to my faith, I also thought about the power of the living water image as it relates to our work. Clean and healthy water is living water. Wholesome water filled with fish and aquatic creatures of all sorts is living water. We are truly blessed here in the Ozarks region with living water. Pictures of bright water rippling over rocks in a stream come to mind along with clear, clean lakes. I recall that when I was looking for a place to build a cabin as my rural retreat years ago, one of my primary criteria was that it be located on living water. That was the exact term I used and it referred to water that was flowing and moving and filled with aquatic life. Without thinking too much about it, I was looking for a place with good water quality.
In contrast to living water is water that is stagnant, fetid, polluted, muck filled and lifeless. Some rivers in our country in past years have had this negative distinction. In the Ozarks in years past I have seen streams reeking of raw sewage and rivers rank with long strands of green gooey algae. Thankfully, these sights in our rivers and streams today are seldom seen, thanks to more stringent regulatory standards and a growing popular ethic intolerant of obvious environmental degradation.
And while our Ozark rivers, lakes and streams have living water, their health is often compromised in ways not readily apparent. A lake or stream can look clean, but still have excessive levels of nutrients. There is often too much sediment (dirt if you will) that affects water quality in our lakes and streams. In the cool water fisheries below the major dams on the upper White river, the water discharged through the turbines from the reservoirs above can often be too low in dissolved oxygen to sustain aquatic life effectively.
These threats to living water in the Ozarks are for the most part anthropogenic, that is, human induced. Our developments have altered watersheds, accelerated runoff and in many subtle ways compromised the health of living waters. We have shortened the life of our living waters, but with proper care their full health can be restored.
In the larger context of my pastor's sermon, we know that life is a precious gift from God. Mankind was created to have dominion over the earth including the water, not to dominate it, subduing and exploiting it without thought to the consequences. While that may have been the approach of past generations, we know today that stewardship is a part of our dominion responsibility. Let's be sure that we do our part to assure that the living waters of the Ozarks enjoy long life and good health.
Quote of the Week
"High quality water is more than the dream of the conservationists, more than a political slogan; high quality water, in the right quantity at the right place at the right time, is essential to health, recreation, and economic growth. Of all our planet's activities--geological movements, the reproduction and decay of biota, and even the disruptive propensities of certain species (elephants and humans come to mind) -- no force is greater than the hydrologic cycle.
- Richard Bangs and Christian Kallen, Rivergods, 1985
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Water is becoming a big deal
Joplin Globe
September 11, 2010
JOPLIN, Mo. - It has always been called "The Farm,'' but for Jean Herrod and her husband, Tom, it has been the home of their dreams for 24 years. The Farm, built many years ago by the original owner of Atlas Powder Co., is situated along the banks of Beef Branch, a small stream that begins at a spring near Camp Mintahama, a Girl Scout camp. It eventually flows into Shoal Creek south of Joplin. "It never goes dry,'' said Herrod. "And, we can get big water after a rain.''
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Report: Toxic chemicals found in drinking water
Tulsa World
9/17/2010
DIMOCK, Pa. - A private consulting firm says it found toxic chemicals in the drinking water of a Pennsylvania community already dealing with methane contamination from natural gas drilling. Environmental engineer Daniel Farnham said Thursday that his tests, which were verified by three laboratories, found industrial solvents such as toluene and ethylbenzene in "virtually every sample" taken from water wells in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County. Farnham, who has tested water for both gas interests and for local residents, said it would be impossible to say that the chemicals he found were caused by gas drilling.
Story continues here
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EPA gets mixed reports on hydraulic fracturing
Tulsa World
9/14/2010
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Rep. Maurice Hinchey told a federal hearing Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate hydraulic fracturing, the natural gas extraction process that he said has contaminated water near drilling sites around the country. "There are numerous reports of water contamination related to hydraulic fracturing in states across the country," said Hinchey, D-N.Y. "Despite the fact that EPA is, in many ways, precluded from taking regulatory action in response to these reports, I believe EPA must investigate to understand what is being done - to keep water supplies safe and secure.
Craig Sautner of Dimock, Pa., holds a jug of his well
water outside the EPA hearing Monday |
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