Things I Tell My Wife by Matthew Knutson

“Let’s go see how high the river has risen,” I told my wife as we drove home from the grocery store. As I had suspected, the riverside portion of my normal 5-kilometer trail was gated off and just feet from the gate flowed rushing water that was clearly out of place. The immense amount of rain has left flooding throughout southern Minnesota, and our region is reminded again of the power of water.

It’s probably one of the most innocent looking threats out there. As I’m writing this I see my wife’s half-full Waldorf College water bottle, and I’m surprised that its content is causing so much destruction in our communities. What do you do when water turns into a disaster? It’s hard to prepare.

Sera’s background has taught me a lot about the power of water. She’s seen the rains in Africa and the rising tides in Asia. As I grew up in the Midwest, I never expected to have a wife whose greatest fear was a tsunami. Water in our region is closing off roads and damaging homes, but very few buildings are being washed away from their foundations and are later pulled out to sea. That’s the power of water.

My wife’s passion for water comes from her time overseas where water wasn’t readily available. Seven hundred eighty-three million people throughout the world go without access to clean water, which is roughly one in nine people on Earth. Because of the lack of clean water, they’re more likely to contract diseases and die.

At this point, we have the technology to provide clean water to every person, but the funding isn’t coming from people who have the means to make a difference. Clean water means more people having their basic needs met. Fewer people will die if they have access to clean water. That’s the power of water.

Speaking of money, the bottled water industry is rolling in it. A 2012 story in Bloomberg noted that the bottled water industry is worth $22 billion. Why are so many people in developed countries spending money on bottled water when their tap is providing better quality water than the majority of the world?

In addition to paying for something that is readily available, the cost of disposing these plastic, one-time use containers is unnecessary. And $22 billion would certainly provide enough funding to give clean water access to the world, but instead, we’re spending it on water we could get for free from the drinking fountain down the hall. Brands have recognized and monetized water for their financial gain. That’s the power of water.

The water from our faucets that we’ve deemed not good enough to drink is still powerful, despite our previous slight to the tap. Every day we clean ourselves, our homes, our world with water. If something is grimy, dirty or mucky, water is normally our first choice to clean it up. Cleansing the unclean creates a more hygienic world that’s safer and more pleasant to look at. That’s the power of water.

Finally, water can literally serve as a source of power. Hydroelectric power can be a renewable source of energy for many communities, including mine in Rochester.

Our public utilities utilizes the Zumbro River to provide energy to the city. The flowing water constantly recharges the system, allowing for a sustainable energy source. It may not be available to all communities, but technological advances could leverage hydropower into new areas. Imagine harnessing the power of a nearby river could mean for a growing community in need of additional electricity. That’s the power of water.

We often only appreciate our resources when they are doing something unusual. Water is most respected in a time of drought, and most feared in a time of flooding.

By recognizing the power of water, we can begin to utilize it in better ways. As our communities recover from traumatic levels of rainfall, let’s remember just what a blessing that resource could be for someone who doesn’t have access to water on a regular basis.

Water is powerful in many ways, and we should treat it as such.

 

Rochester resident Matt Knutson is the communications and events director for United Way of Olmsted County.