Goodwood

Goodwood

Tuesday 1 May 2012

I live in a drought zone… apparently.

I live in a drought zone… apparently.

Do I? Really! A drought zone – how is that possible?

I live in a village, in the middle of nowhere, on the road to somewhere, bisected by two main roads. A few years ago a by-pass was built to alleviate the traffic congestion. The land freed up between the village and the by-pass became building land. Overnight the village doubled in size. It will continue to double in size as more houses are built, in an economy where apparently it is almost impossible to get a mortgage, yet more families arrive and put more pressure on an ailing water system in a drought zone.

Whilst I appreciate that the complexity of a drought are subtle… it rains. It keeps raining. More rain is forecast. April was declared the wettest month on record since records began, around a hundred years ago! Cows retreat, seek higher ground; their pasture disappears beneath acres and acres of artificial lakes. Brown muddied waters pours off fields, floods roads, ditches over filled spill their surplus capacity across lanes, torrents of rainwater fill the drains, fountains of water spring up through the tarmac an yet apparently I live in a drought zone.

Yesterday a man lost his life when he tried to cross a section of water. He did not make it safely to the other side, yet he tried to traverse this flooded road.

I am certain that if I lived in Africa, in a barren wasteland that had not seen rainwater for many years I would understand the fullest meaning of the word, drought.

Drought:
1. A long period of abnormally low rainfall, especially one that adversely affects growing or living conditions.
2. A prolonged dearth or shortage. ‘a drought of good writing’
3. A period of dry weather, especially a long one that is injurious to crops.
4. Archaic . Thirst.

So how is it that I remain convinced, that we misuse this word on a daily basis? Why is that we do not use alternative phrases, or more valid descriptions, to describe more accurately this current situation? What will it take for us to improve the way we collect water. Every where I look I see water.

When will we decide to use the correct wording to describe what is happening now, as I would not want to live here when this area is declared a ‘flood zone.’

1 comment:

  1. It's getting very dreary all this 'drought', isn't it?

    The sun peeked out yesterday,so I managed to have a cup of coffee sat on the back step, with my galoshes on because of the huge puddle and guess what I saw at my feet? A pond skater! Pondlife on the path! Nature seems to think it's going to stay like this for a while ...

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