Challenges to Preconceived Notions

This is the last in our month-long reflection series. This week I’ve pulled two very different articles for you, but both present challenges to how we think about things. Paying attention to our paradigms and prejudices is always a helpful way to reconsider and perhaps step outside the box to find new better solutions.

First, here’s a piece about a long-term study done on the short-grass prairie. It compares traditional, season-long grazing with collaborative, adaptive rangeland management to find if one or the other leads to more regrazing of grass plants. The outcome will probably surprise you. It’s a long piece with lots of comments that add a lot to the discussion.

Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management, Multipaddock Rotational Grazing, and the Story of the Regrazed Grass Plant

Second, since that one’s so long, here’s a shorter piece. It’s a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot lately since “Toilet to Tap” or “Advanced Water Purification” is a technology that is starting to be implemented here in Tucson and Phoenix. You can read about the upcoming project in Tucson here. [

You may have heard that the Colorado River is drying up and cities downstream are looking for solutions. My town of Tucson is allocated 144,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water every year, but we use only 100,000. We’re also looking at ways to leave even more water in the river. Residents have already reduced their water use to 74 gallons per person per day and we’re shooting for 40 so that we can leave all our allocated water in the Colorado River and live off local sources. It’s just one of the ways we’re adapting to our changing climate. I’d love to hear how your community is adapting!

[UPDATE: Trump’s executive order pausing all funding for the Inflation Reduction Act now puts the water treatment project in jeopardy. The IRA had set aside hundreds of millions of dollars for long-term water conservation so this is likely only one of many projects that dies. Likewise, the order will prevent cleanup of PFAS chemicals in wells contaminated by Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. These “forever” chemicals break down slowly and are known carcinogens.]

We Can Drink Water Made From Sewage

Finally the funnies. 🙂

It’s not July 4th, but I just needed some cannons today. Hope you like them too!

If Your Music Doesn’t Have Cannons, You’re Doing It Wrong!