Fun fact of the day: Albemarle is a "primary federal disaster area." So are Buckingham, Fluvanna and Greene counties. Also, Charlottesville and 42 other localities are "contiguous disaster areas." Governor Kaine announced as much last week. The reason? Drought.
Drizzly recent weather notwithstanding, we are far enough behind on rainfall totals to merit the same status as places hit by massive fires, floods, tornados and hurricanes. Amazing, huh? Drought is, of course, a completely different type of disaster, one that happens slowly and has more to do with lack than excess. Though we haven’t quite entered Dust Bowl II: The Millennium, we are hurtin’ for water.
I live in a rural place and heard plenty of talk this year about drought’s effects: the high price of hay, for one thing, which makes it tough for people trying to feed horses and cows. And there was a stretch of weeks during the summer when the weekly letters from our CSA farmer sounded quite exasperated. Watching your plants wither before you is frustrating on what I’ll call a biblical level; I experienced it too, in our garden, and saw a small creek at the edge of our land dry up almost completely.
Unfortunately, drought is also different from other disasters in that it’s somehow easier to ignore. Now that it’s chilly and damp and the creek is rushing, the disaster declaration seems kind of abstract. But it’s not. Saving water still matters. I doubt any of you is running a lawn sprinkler, but you may be planning to in just a few months. If I can just boss you around for a second: Don’t do it! This is a federal disaster, dudes. Use the winter, instead, to plan on replacing at least part of your lawn with drought-tolerant plants, and to get a rain barrel in place (some resources here). Save your dishwater, cut down your shower time, and generally behave as though it were a hot dry July—because soon enough, it will be.
I hereby solicit suggestions for a name for the drought. If it has a name (like, say, Katrina) maybe that’ll help us take it more seriously. Ideas?
