Toward a Sustainable WATER Future:

Sponsored by SYRCL and funded in part by the Department of Water Resources.

Especially as I drink the last of my water, I believe that we are subjects of the planet’s hydrologic process, too proud to write ourselves into textbooks along with clouds, rivers, and morning dew.

–Craig Childs, The Secret Knowledge of Water

There’s a regenerative force that propels the water cycle: thermal energy from the ocean delivers life-giving water to our mountains; gravity moves water through soils and into creeks and rivers to nourish ribbons of biological productivity.  Human systems—particularly food and energy production—can either work in harmony with the hydrologic cycle, or can sever the regenerative force inherent to the cycle.

Thus, one of the greatest challenges of our times is to rebuild natural systems for our own ultimate survival. If we are to move toward a sustainable water future, we must examine how to balance human needs with those of the environment which we depend upon. And we must have the courage to meet our unsustainable practices with solutions that rebuild and support nature’s regenerative systems.

The Work of SYRCL

In 1983 the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) began with the straightforward goal of stopping new threats that would lead to obvious ecological damage and irreversible destruction of one of the greatest amenities of our community—namely drowning the South Yuba River under a series of dams and reservoirs.  For the past quarter century, SYRCL has become deeply acquainted with the rivers and creeks within the Yuba Watershed, and the complex ecological and human systems that dictate the river’s health.   While our work necessarily emphasizes the ecological factors—such as water quality, meadow function, and species richness—the Yuba is also a workhorse for agricultural water supply and the energy required to pump it to the irrigated farms of the San Joaquin Valley.  Yet we often sacrifice local river health to meet demands well beyond our own region, while fueling unsustainable practices– thus compromising the water cycle.

The Promise of Permaculture

Permaculture is an approach to designing homesteads and communities that mimics nature’s systems. The term itself means “permanent agriculture” and is virtually synonymous with sustainability. Permaculture is based on three core values:  Care of Earth, Care of People, and Fair Share (equity).

In this exhibit we borrow the permaculture concept of concentric “Zones” to illustrate the various levels where we can and must strive to conserve and regenerate the one resource that all life requires—water— flowing in cycles.

Concentric Zones   (This exhibit emphasizes  Zones 1-4)

Zone 0:  Individual

Zone 1:  Home Scale

Zone 2:  Municipality

Zone 3:  Watershed

Zone 4:  State of California

Zone 5:  National Policies

Join The APPLE Center and SYRCL on a walk through the “Zones,” identifying the challenges we’re facing (Hungry for Change) and solutions we’re employing (Thirsty for Solutions) which exemplify our possible path toward a more sustainable water future