Water is Life

Irrigation, Native Americans and Us
By Paul H. Betancourt
copyright May 2012

                  One of the things I have long wanted to see is a liberal watching a Native American hunting an endangered species. Which side would they root for? They support Native Americans’ right to their culture and they want to protect all the critters.

            Well there’s a real life case similar to that. On April 30th NPR reported that Native Americans in Montana won a court case that requires the federal government to build them a $400M irrigation project. Imagine that- irrigation isn’t all bad after all.

            One of the tribal elders interviewed for the report said, “In our culture, water is life.” Guess what? Water is life in our culture too!

            I know Native Americans have suffered at the hands of government bureaucrats far longer than I have. But, I hope their case helps as a precedent here in the Valley. Irrigation cannot be good for them and bad for us.

            Water is life. Our bodies are over 60% water. You can live longer without food than you can live without water. Water is the precious resource of life and we are foolish when we fight over it. We need to learn to treasure water as life, and care for it as the precious resource it is. Water is life.