REALITY'S PAST

Green River

THEREFORE, BECAUSE FARMERS AND RANCHERS HAVE PRIORITY THEY SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO USE WATER

SUSTAINABLY.

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HANSMAN STATED THAT THERE IS ENOUGH WATER, HOWEVER WE ARE EITHER PUTTING TOO MUCH OF IT IN ONE AREA, OR ALLOCATING WATER TO A SOURCE THAT DOESN’T NEED IT (HANSMAN,

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, MAY 22, 2023).

EITHER WAY, WE NEED TO BE SMARTER WITH OUR WATER USAGE AND ALLOCATION OR WE MIGHT END

THEREFORE, I WONDER, HOW CAN WE CREATE

SUSTAINABLE

A

UP LIKE THE ANASAZI. ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE CAN HELP CONSERVE WATER IS THROUGH RANCHERS AND FARMERS. FARMERS AND RANCHERS CAN HELP PRESERVE WATER BY USING THE AMOUNT THAT THEY ARE ALLOCATING MORE SUSTAINABLY. WHEN WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO THE RIVER, I SPENT A MAJORITY OF THE TIME STARING OUT THE WINDOW. I WATCHED THE SUN GO ACROSS THE SKY AS THE DAY SLOWLY MOVED ON, OBSERVING THE MOUNTAINS SLOWLY DISAPPEARING AND THE WATER FROM THE GREEN RIVER GROWING LARGER. EACH TIME I WOULD SEE WATER, IT WOULD BECOME SLIGHTLY BIGGER, STRONGER, WIDER. IT MADE ME THINK WHY ARE WE IN A DROUGHT IF I CAN SEE ALL OF THIS FLOWING WATER. ACCORDING TO HEATHER HANSMAN, WE DO HAVE ENOUGH WATER, WE ARE JUST NOT USING IT IN A WAY THAT CAN HELP US PRESERVE OUR RESOURCES (HANSMAN, PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, MAY 22, 2023).

AND EQUITABLE

WITH WATER? THERE IS NO EASY ANSWER. SOLVING ONE PROBLEM IS NOT GOING TO SOLVE MUCH, WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS SOLVE ALL THE PROBLEMS, OR AT LEAST ALL OF THE MAJOR ONES.

RELATIONSHIP

ON OUR TRIP ON THE GREEN RIVER, WE HIKED TO ONE OF THESE DEFENSIVE TOWERS THAT DIAMOND WAS REFERENCING.THE HIKE UP TO THE TOWER WAS BEAUTIFUL. WHILE WALKING UP THE ROCKY TERRAIN, YOU COULD SEE A VALLEY SURROUNDED BY CANYONS, IT WAS A SIGHT. THE TOWER WAS WHAT ANASAZI PEOPLE USED AS ONE OF THEIR RESOURCES TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. THE SOUTHWEST IS CURRENTLY IN A DROUGHT SIMILAR

TO THE ANASAZI. AFTER A LONG DAY OF CANOEING, IT FELT GOOD TO JUST SIT THERE IN MY CHAIR AND SIP ON MY HOT COCOA, WHILE STARING AT THE FIRE. I WAS THINKING BACK ON THE TOWER AND THE CURRENT DROUGHT FACING THE WEST, HOPING THAT HISTORY DOESN’T REPEAT ITSELF.

THE ANASAZI WERE AN ANCIENT NATIVEAMERICAN CULTURE THAT SPANNED THE PRESENT-DAY FOUR CORNER REGION OF THE US. THE BEGINNING OF THEIR COLLAPSE WAS DUE TO DEFORESTATION AND A DROUGHT, WHICH STARTED WARFARE. THE BEGINNING OF THEIR COLLAPSE WAS DUE TO DEFORESTATION AND A DROUGHT, WHICH STARTED WARFARE. IN JARED DIAMOND’S BOOK, COLLAPSE, HE DESCRIBED THAT, “WARFARE EVIDENTLY BECAME INTENSE, AS REFLECTED IN PROLIFERATION OF DEFENSIVE WALLS AND MOATS AND TOWERS, CLUSTERING OF SCATTERED SMALL HAMLETS INTO LARGER HILLTOP FORTRESSES”(DIAMOND, 2001, PG.151”).

DUE TO THE WARFARE, PEOPLE STARTED TO EAT EACH OTHER. THE CANNIBALISM TOOK TWO FORMS: EATING THE BODIES OF THE ENEMIES THAT HAD FALLEN FROM THE WAR, OR THE LESS APPETIZING ONE, EATING ONE'S OWN RELATIVE THAT WOULD HAVE DIED DUE TO NATURAL CAUSES.