How We Live In The Desert By Craig A. Wilson, Water Management Director We do live in a desert! That is obvious whenever one is out and about in Arizona. The landscape in the Ranch has changed over the years and now reflects much of what is common in the Sonoran Desert from Saguaro Cactus to an arroyo to channel storm water to a flower bed. Every now and then though there is a home with trees and other plantings that come from places far from the desert. Who am I to talk, I have a wonderful grapefruit tree A desert is a special place. It takes a hardy breed to live here in the Sonoran Desert. In fact, the Sonoran Desert is one of the harshest of the major deserts. We live here now and have adapted living in the desert. The first innovation that comes to mind is air conditioning. How did those early inhabitants, from the Hohokam’s to the early settlers, find ways to live with the heat? Beats me; it was not the heat that they had to overcome, but the lack of water. They did have the Gila River and its major tributary, the Salt River, to provide life sustaining water. They worked miracles with that resource. The old canals, the dams on the Salt River, the new canals that distribute the water, and now stored ground water make living in the Sonoran Desert possible. Look around. We live in a special place, one that tries to respect living in the desert. Dobson Ranch started as a community off in the corner of Mesa. No longer are we but a corner, we are a big part of the Mesa and the best way to prove that is by voting. Our representatives take note of our turn-out and accordingly, pay attention to our needs. They also see that we are serious about living in the desert by how we embrace new conservation techniques. How many homes still have the solar panels installed when the house was built? How many homes have had solar panels replaced or have new solar panels? Electricity takes both fossil fuel and water to generate. Solar panels make direct use the energy of sun. They, however, need to be cleaned now and then and that usually involves water. Conserving energy and conserving water are linked. Keep up the effort, we are getting there. Remember, water makes living in the desert possible - make the best of it.
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