Water is life, for humans, animals and plants. This is especially true in the mountains, where a lack of water can quickly become a serious problem. Being able to take a sip of fresh and cool water after a long hike is a fundamental experience.
It is all the more astonishing that nothing is done to protect the springs. It has happened to us that we descend from a high-altitude hike of over 2000 m with empty water bottles and look forward to a sip from a pure spring, only to find that the water there is undrinkable. The spring is trampled and covered with cow dung, the water full of worms. The collection hose and the basin are also destroyed. This means another hour and a half descent to hopefully find a small stream in the forest with clean water. After several years of drought, many springs and streams have dried up. But that doesn’t seem to bother anyone, certainly not the cattle breeders. Then they just transport water in tanks to the alpine pastures…. Apparently this is not really a cause for concern.
If there is no more water above, there will soon be none below. In the lowlands, they drill deeper wells and continue to irrigate lavishly. Technically, anything is possible.
How about gratitude, reverence and mindfulness towards our elixir of life? Pure, clear water – what a gift from nature! In our civilisation, we turn it into waste water at the push of a button. We have switched to composting toilets, for example. This significantly reduces our water consumption and enriches our composting system with additional nutrients.
There are also springs on our property, although fewer than before. We have just protected one spring at the edge of our property from pollution by grazing cattle. Soon the cattle will be put out to pasture again and our boundary fence is not finished yet. Unfortunately, fences have to be built here because otherwise the whole land is taken over – also a kind of landscape and resource consumption.
We have made it our task here to preserve and protect the resources as best we can on the land that has been transferred to us. There are still springs and streams here that you can simply drink from. Quite untouched. Thank you!
Gratitude for water
In the name of all humanity, we thank you, beings who rule over water. We give thanks for all the water that is dear to us.
Our lives are sustained and refreshed day after day by you. Please forgive human selfishness, heedlessness and lack of appreciation towards water. From the bottom of our hearts we thank all the waters for sustaining our lives and offering us again and again the gift of universal consciousness.
May there be peace on earth! We thank you, you entities who rule over the element of water.
R.M.