CONSERVATION CHARLEY 



Many, many years ago an old man sat on a sun 

 bleached log by the sea. He spat a gob of terbakkey 

 juice toward the rolling breakers and murmured, 

 "Water, water everywhere and nary a drop todrink." 



Friends and neighbors listening to the old fellow's 

 murmurings and seeing the far-away look in his 

 eyes, sadly shook their heads. "The Ancient Mar- 

 iner has had it, " they said. "The old boy's mind 

 has gone gallivanting. " 



They knew that, even though the ocean's waters 

 were not fit to drink, there was an abundance - - 

 nay, an overabundance - - of clear, sparkling 

 water in the other direction. The land was satur- 

 ated with springs, brooks, streams, rivers and 

 lakes. All of them offered a man cool, clear water 

 to quench his thirst. 



They abandoned the old man to his musing. 



That far-away look in his eyes, however, was look- 

 ing a lot further than they could imagine. He was 

 looking into the Twentieth Centruy. He was watch- 

 ing you and I and our children living an era when 

 water was no longer over -abundant. He was see- 

 ing amazed people finally realizing that water could, 

 indeed, become scarce. 



When Dan Boone, Buffalo Bill and Dave Crockett 

 were rambling over the countryside they merely 

 flopped at the nearest stream bank and drank loud 

 and long. The water was truly nature's nectar. 

 Try that today and you often get an elixir made up 

 of equal parts of sludge, crude and mud — with a 

 pinch of water. 



When grandpa was a boy he shucked his clothes and 

 frolicked in the old swimming hole. Looking into 

 that pool was like looking in a window. He could 

 easily see the gravel bottom through several feet of 

 water. In many of our streams the window is board 

 ed up today. He can't see the broken bottles, rust- 

 ed cans and slimy tires half buried in the ooze of 

 the river bottom--even through water that is only a 

 foot or two deep. The water is almost thick enough 

 to walk on. 



In the not too distant past a homesteader could dig 

 a ditch to the nearest stream and lead a dependabl^^ 

 supply of irrigation water to the parched throats o^^ 

 his corn and potatoes. Today a large number of our 

 irrigation ditches are unemployed by the middle of 

 the summer— the water supply is kaput. 



The Ancient Mariner must have seen sights when 

 he said, "and nary a drop to drink. " 



Good water is becoming scarcer every day. We 

 pollute our streams with wastes from factories and 

 cities. We pollute them with fertile topsoil from 

 our fields. We pollute them with the refuse from 

 our picnics, fishing trips and junk yards. No won- 

 der many of them stink and make us turn our eyes 

 away in revulsion. 



To make matters worse our need for water in- 

 creases by the minute. In 1900 the average daily 

 use of water per person for all purposes was 600 

 gallons. Today it is about 1400 gallons. By 1975, 

 at the rate we're going, it will be about 1800. Com- 

 pare our population in 1900 to the 245 million 

 thirsty people we'll have in 1975. By comparison, 

 our needs in 1975 will make 1900's water require- 

 ments look like the proverbila drop in the bucket. 



Does it sound fantastic ? During a recent drought ^ 

 one town in Kansas is reported to have purified its^ 

 sewage water and recirculated it in the municipal 

 water lines. In many Texas towns drinking water 



sold by the gallon or by the barrel at a higher price 

 than oil. Water rationing is becoming a common 

 practice in many areas during the summers. 



Wherever the Ancient Mariner is spewing his ter- 

 bakkey juice today he's no doubt, hoping that we wise 

 up before that last drop of drinking water dies from 

 contamination. 



"WATER DEVELOPMENT, TODAY AND TOMORROW 



This was the theme of the Montana Association 

 Convention held in Great Falls November 13, 14, 15. 

 Some say it was one of the best ever held. Many 

 supervisors were there who had not attended before 

 and on the other hand some of the oldtimers were 

 conspicuous by their absence. 



The Cascade Board of supervisors, their wives, 

 and their cooperating agency people are to be highly 

 commended for arranging the fine meeting place, 

 program, entertainment, displays, etc. President 

 Thompson had good speakers, and it was gratifying 

 to see so many stay to the last to hear Dick FabricK 



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