Last night I had the opportunity to meet a guy who passes for a celebrity in the small realm of water wonkery in the blogosphere. Michael Campana, of WaterWired fame (in addition to being a highly respected academic, philanthropist, and generally good guy), is visiting Tucson this week for the National Ground Water Association's Ground Water Summit, a meeting of groundwater professionals from universities, government agencies, and consulting firms across the globe. I'm not attending the conference but decided to attend a networking mixer associated with it last night in order to, well, network.
You may not realize this but shortly after starting this blog in a somewhat tentative (and very locally focused) fashion last summer, Michael - out of the blue - mentioned my blog in one of his posts. Then shortly after that I was mentioned in two other blogs. Suddenly I was on the map and realized that other people actually were occasionally reading what I had to say. It was at that point that I decided to stay with this blog, continue to expand the focus, and try to apply what I know to what is happening around me in the hopes that I can contribute to the discourse on these very important issues and maybe provide someone with useful information they were not previously aware of. But I might not have gotten this far if not for the subtle encouragement provided by Michael in that one brief post. So thank you Aquadoc.
It's been a fun several months and will hopefully continue to be so. And maybe I'll get the opportunity to meet more water bloggers in the future.
3 comments:
Do keep it up! It's been helpful to me. And I have vague plans for a trip down your way in late June. I'll be in touch if Tucson ends up on the itinerary.
Gees, Chris, thanks so much for the kind words! You run a great blog, and contribute much to the discourse. I was glad to meet you.
I am trying not to let all this go to my head - a celebrity, quoted in Elle, and Riparian Rap (http://lrrd.blogspot.com) likes the 'hip tone' of WaterWired. My 15 minutes of fame....
HEY, come on now, I feel you might be coping an “attitude” not supported by Arizona government respecting the long term viability of the Colorado River. I mean after all our Governor, our ADEQ, our ADWR and our State Legislators are all in lock-step that Arizona has 100 year certificates galore to support our exponential growth.
Is it just me or do we NOT all see the line in the sand, separating government from business has been obliterated to the point where we do NOT even remotely feel or sense anything out of the ordinary when the government regulator on Monday, is on Friday of that same week, the new CEO of one of America’s for-profit corporate giants, who just may be currently labeled the #1 polluter in the world…?
For the last 40 years, America has been spoon fed a “scientific-techno-whiz-bang-psychological” pabulum diet designed to instruct our being compliant, docile and exceedingly malleable. The benefit of this instruction was tested in the last 8 years and remarkably “we” passed muster remaining ever silent, fearful of reprisal with our head firmly stuck, as an ostrich in the sand, where we see nothing, hear nothing, speak nothing save that deemed politically correct.
America’s capitalists see a veritable “gold mine” in the coming years respecting – water – and we are being carefully cultivated as farmers grow crops to see the wisdom and benefits associated with water as a commodity for sale to the highest bidder, as opposed to the notion that water is part of the “commons” and for use by all mankind. Is it any wonder then that lawyers would not begin to punctuate media with their words, while often convoluted are nonetheless, designed to strengthen the hand of the new “gold miners” of water…?
I would like to believe mankind is seeing the dawning of a new paradigm one wherein – water – is honestly embraced as part of the “commons” which essentially hands control of water to “we” – the people – and out of the hands of the bankers, financiers, contractors, engineers and capitalists.
Maybe it’s just a dream, but if it is, please don’t wake me up.
Respectfully,
Paul F. Miller
striving to promote sustainable awareness
BLOG SITE NAME ... AUTHENTICALLY WIRED
BLOG SITE ADDRESS ... http://waterman99.wordpress.com/2009
... everyone has the right to clean & accessible water, adequate for the health & well being of the individual & family, and no one shall be deprived
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