In his 1952 apocalyptic short story The Year of the Jackpot, noted science fiction writer Robert Heinlein writes, “The Colorado River is at a record low, and the Tower of Lake Mead rises above the water. But the Angelenos committed mass suicide.” Watering the lawn as usual” scenario was still a figment of imagination.
But imagination sometimes has a nasty ability to become reality. A severe drought in the American Southwest has put the Colorado River in jeopardy and, with it, the water supply to major US population centers and agricultural producers.
Representatives from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming reached an agreement on May 22 to reduce water use by 3 million acre feet by the end of 2026. An “acre-foot” of water is equivalent to 326,000 gallons.
Arizona, California, and Nevada, among others, agreed to a federal proposal to prevent the 1,450-mile-long Colorado River from drying up by cutting water withdrawals by 13%.
Saving water on this scale is considered unprecedented, but last June a motivating push was given by the federal government, telling states to find ways to use less water. , or the government would do it instead.
Catholics in some affected states are using the principles of Pope Francis’ landmark 2015 environmental encyclical to complement government efforts to prevent disasters. Laudato Si’ Please keep this in mind.
“The Department of Creation Care recognizes the importance of water conservation, especially here in Southern California, where we have a long history of droughts that have severely impacted the poor and vulnerable. We keep giving,” said Christina Bagario Slenz, Associate Director of the Ministry of Creation Care. Department of Life, Peace, and Justice, San Diego Diocese.
“Not only is it costly in terms of increased government spending, but it also poses major threats to livelihoods, human welfare and biodiversity,” Slentz said. “In particular, the San Diego Parish includes the Imperial Valley, where the agricultural sector pumps more water from the Colorado River than Arizona and Nevada combined.”
This combination of climate conditions and water-dependent industries has resulted in a focus on the parish’s commitment to water conservation and equity, Slentz said. The diocese’s Laudato Si action plan for next year is to work on building community resilience while ensuring environmental justice.
“We are also currently working with the San Diego County Water Council to promote water equity across the region, including the Imperial Irrigation District,” Slentz said. “In this regard, we are collaborating with a team from San Diego State University to conduct a preventive study based at the SDSU-Imperial Valley, focused on the use of evidence-based interventions to reduce the effects of extreme heat. We are working on establishing a center.”
The Diocese of San Diego’s Creation Care Action Plan (finalized and approved by Cardinal Robert McElroy in 2021) has more than 115 references to water. The plan is part of the Laudato Si Action, launched in 2021 by the Office for the Promotion of Integrative Human Development at the Holy See, to support families, communities, organizations and parishes on their “Journey to Integrative Ecology”.・Platform” is related.
Additional water awareness initiatives for the San Diego Diocese include parish newsletter inserts, parish correspondence articles, social media posts, Laudato Si’ A study guide that includes a “checklist of things to do” to help conserve water.
“We consider this issue not only for human consumption, but also for all of God’s creations.”
— Patti Sils Trausch
OSV News has contacted more than 20 Catholic parishes and organizations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming that are part of the Colorado River Compact. Only a few water conservation efforts directly related to water conservation have been reported. Laudato Si’.
“Healthcare, agriculture, and industry require fresh water sources. Whereas water supplies used to be relatively constant, demand now exceeds sustainable supplies in many places, and short-term and has a dramatic long-term impact,” Francis wrote. Laudato Si’.
“Large cities that depend on large water supplies are experiencing temporary water shortages and, in critical situations, water is not always managed with sufficient oversight and fairness,” said Pope Francis. added.
Over the years these issues have concerned the Franciscan Renewal Center. The Franciscan Renewal Center is a Franciscan friar-resident retreat center and worship community in Scottsdale, Arizona, working in partnership with the Diocese of Phoenix.
A “Keep the Water Flowing” workshop, scheduled for September, will build on the work to date, with experts from the public and private sectors, as well as affected communities.
“The goal is to share bipartisan information in a way that the general public can understand, so that they can become informed and active members of their communities and participate actively in our democracy, if they wish. It’s about making it possible,” said Franciscan administrator Patty Sils Trausch.special projects for mission integration of the Renewal Center, in particular Laudato Si’ action goal.
“Through our Franciscan charism, we salute ‘Sister Water’ and Pope Francis.” Laudato Si’ As kinsmen to all creatures, we care about this issue not only for human consumption, but for all of God’s creatures,” explained Sils Trausch. “Sister Water” pays tribute to God’s work in creation with a nod to Saint Francis of Assisi’s poem Hymn to the Creation.
Maria Trevinho, North American program coordinator for the Laudato Si’ Movement, a nonprofit that works to protect the environment through the lens of the encyclical, said the organization “celebrates.”[s] The agreement signed by the seven states, as Pope Francis states: Laudato Si’“Things can change.”
Francis’ encyclical “tells us not only the very clear reality of evangelicalism, but also the deep problems that creation is going through,” Treviño said. It requires dialogue and dedication to the care of our common home. A shortage of critical fluids is just one of the serious effects of global warming that is affecting everyone. “
Treviño said water has value beyond its obvious uses. “It is important to recognize that water is a peace value that leads to building bridges, cooperation and dialogue,” she said. “The situation on the Colorado River is a good example of that.”
Meredith McCarthy, co-founder of the “Green Team” of the St. Monica Catholic Community in Santa Monica, Calif., said the parish is tying water conservation with food.
“You can’t separate it,” McCarthy said. “80% of the Colorado River’s water is used for agriculture. Diet—every step in the process, down to how you dispose of it, is and can be a big problem.”
California requires residents to separate food waste from garbage, so the St. Monica green team took a hands-on approach. They recently distributed over 300 kitchen compost buckets to parishioners.
“We throw away an incredible amount of food,” McCarthy says. “The result is all food rotting in landfills, producing methane, an incredibly powerful greenhouse gas.”
The St. Monica Green Team also celebrated Laudato Si Week (May 21-28) by ‘remembering Pope Francis’ goal that we all participate in ‘taking care of our common home’. Launched Phase 1 of the Parish Action Plan designed to support “
McCarthy hopes to raise awareness of both. Laudato Si’ and personal ecological responsibility.
“For many Catholics, I think the environment is like the best cherry blossom: a ‘nice to have’ but not a ‘must have’,” McCarthy said. “It is up to all of us to slow this down as we tie these stories together about where climate change refugees are going and where climate change is having the greatest impact on people.”
