Water may be the most precious resource on the planet. With many waterways representing a toxic ooze of chemical infusion, it’s time to become aware of the underground penetration of toxic waste into our springs and wells that ultimately filter into the veins and arteries of our daily water systems.  Three major events have brought water purification and its impact front and center.

• April of 2010 the British Petroleum was responsible for a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that caused pollution of over 200 million gallons of ocean water. This not only impacted the sea life but devastated the fishing and tourism industry of the delta residents.

• March of 2011 a massive earthquake hit Japan causing the Fukushima nuclear reactors to crack and leak deadly radioactive water into the ground and subsequently drain into the surrounding ocean. You might think this has no bearing on you unless you consider the fish that make their way onto our tables for consumption. And the devastation didn’t stop with the earthquake. Leakage of the toxic waste from the now dormant reactors continues to seep into the ground which is carried by the underground springs into the ocean.

• As recent as February of 2014 a coal ash spill contaminated the drinking water from Virginia to North Carolina when a containment pipe under a coal ash field burst spilling the toxic residue into the Dan River basin. Coal ash is a waste product from coal combustion containing arsenic and other toxic metals. Ironically, the EPA warned Duke Energy years earlier of the toxic ash hazard.

These occurrences were preventable. All had dire results on the population and the environment.

What happens in one location may just have repercussions on us all. States need to launch more restrictive guidelines on chemical introduction into our water systems to insure water supplies will be cleaner and remain in abundant supply.

Does anyone recall the movie Medicine Man? This was a story of field researchers played by Sean Connery and Lorraine Bracco who discovered a cure for cancer in the Amazon basin.  But as the story unfolds the remote forest is reduced to ashes when the greed of a logging industry destroys a large section of the pristine environment.  If indiscriminate logging continues to exploit timber, valuable nutrients and potential disease preventative elements can be destroyed.  One of the most important functions of plant life is to extract nutrients from carbon dioxide and

return oxygen to the air. Trees are an integral partner in producing clean breathable air. Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas that stabilizes our atmosphere.  With deforestation we are compromising the earth’s ability to stabilize the delicate balance between all life.   And if that’s not enough to encourage conservation, the rainforests contain trees and plants that have

healing properties found nowhere else on earth. Preserving the natural diversity of our forests, woodlands, and wetlands is essential to provide a life-sustaining environment for all living things.

Nature’s Checks and Balances

Potential human intelligence can’t compare to the natural design implemented by Mother Nature. Nature’s balance is impeccable.  Our planet’s environmental diversity is amazing. To replenish the land, Gaia provides nourishing rains and snows to feed her lakes and rivers. It is up to her human inhabitants to insure those waterways are pollution free. Gaia uses the abundant light energy from the sun to warm the land and stimulate plants to grow. While we may not know when an environmental temper tantrum may flare, we cannot help but observe her impeccable resilience with awe. She has provided us with a remarkable system of checks and balances, too

diverse for any mortal to plan or understand. Recently, she’s been doing a lot of damage control, replenishing depleted systems, changing land grids and taking inventory. And you thought mankind was in control.  If we do nothing our earth mother may not be able to support our growing needs.  But if we work in cooperation to nourish and help her rebuild her depleted systems she will be able to restore balance in short order.  For once our future is in the hands of mankind.  What will you do to help restore the land we live in?