BY BOB FUSELIER
Los Alamos

Recently, after I had watched one of those Armageddon-type movies, I realized that almost all post-apocalyptic and crisis-centered movies and TV series are set in environments where water is an exceedingly rare and extremely valuable resource. I guess I understand which environments leave us feeling desperate and threatened: those without water. It makes sense. Long before we get hungry, we become thirsty. We can survive for weeks upon weeks without
food but only a few days without water.

I’ve felt that desperate feeling quite often this past summer. Not only has it been exceedingly hot (we don’t have AC), the monsoon rains have been barely anything to notice. With the lack of rain came a lack of clouds, allowing the high-desert sun to scorch the trees and plants I struggled to keep alive, bake the soil, and evaporate quickly any rain that did fall.

Understanding that this is part of the climate crisis we all are facing, that the southwest US will be affected more quickly and more dramatically than other areas of our country, I found myself often thinking of a cooler, wetter place where I could move to live out the rest of my life. I came to realize two things as I pondered that possibility: 1) home is more than a place, it’s where your community is, and 2) there’s no place not dealing with the effects of our warming planet.

So, what’s to be done; what difference can I make?

My wife Susie and I attended the recent press conference by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in which Bishop Wester announced the release of his pastoral letter entitled “United for Our Sacred Waters: Conversation and Action Around the Sacredness of Water”. The press conference was held at Tingley Beach, in front of the totally dry Rio Grande River. The letter was an invitation for all to come together and have conversations about our ever-dwindling access to clean water in many areas throughout the world but, in particular, to the area we call our home, New Mexico.

As someone finishing his seventh decade on this planet and living in Los Alamos where
we take our water from an aquifer, the chance that I won’t have clean water flowing in
my house for the rest of my life is very slim. But as someone whose faith tells me that I
am a part of something bigger, I can neither ignore those living nearby who struggle
now to find clean water to drink and ample water to grow their crops for those coming
after me, including my children and grandchildren. We are in a crisis, and I believe it is
one in which each of us is called to be a part of its solution.

Bishop Wester’s letter invites all, not just Catholics, to take part in becoming a part of the solution to our water crisis. He recommends as a first step that we simply come together in small groups, whether those be groups from your church or just friends and neighbors, to share each other’s past and present experiences with the precious resource we too often take for granted. The second step is to gather together a second time to discuss ways, whether done individually or with others, to wisely use, protect, and preserve our water. It’s a ground up approach that starts with each of us individually looking to make a difference, then coming together with others to further that goal. It’s simple, makes sense, and empowers us all.

If interested in learning more, please visit: archdiosf.org/water.