A lot of people sit back and blame the lack of water in California on climate change and natural occurrences. It is clearly an issue that can be tackled on a local, decentralized level. This video by Connor Jones, Founder of Ojai Permaculture and East End Eden defends this point and provides solutions as he angrily watches runoff water pour into a sewer.

Video by: Agustin Carri Photo, a documentary film maker who is creating a film highlighting permaculture farms, ecovillages and all types of land restoration projects around the world. Check it out! – -> bit.do/CEIBO

“Here, we are watching the effects of poor land management. This right here is a major distributor to a lot of problems in our society and particularly in California as a bioregional drought situation. It’s not necessary. This doesn’t have to happen. This is not a natural occurrence. This is the product of a lack of respect for the resource of water. We are not in a drought, we are just creating that. And that is what creates the drought and that is what creates pollution in our waterways. Roundup, Urea fertilizers, all kinds of different pesticides herbicides, general biocides off of these orchards and sending it into the rivers and streams where we source seafood.

This needs to stop and the solution is not that challenging. This could turn into agricultural production, This could turn into rivers that flow all year instead of while the rain is falling. This could turn in the climate moderation effect of hydrated landscapes. This could turn into high quality spring water and well water for everyone in the bio-region. It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s absolute nonsense. This right here could fill a small reservoir overnight, no problem, enough water to irrigate this orchard all year but instead, but instead, because of this management choice, we lose water and if the grower doesn’t have a well, then they’re paying ah high price for municipal water. In this bioregion what our municipal water is, is this kind of water caught in a large dam and purified. We can do the same this on a decentralized scale. This is why California is in a drought.

The solution to this pretty immense problem is a just subtle change in the design and management of the water resource.Instead of paving, piping and polluting it and sending it away as quick as possible, we have to change the standard narrative of water management in our culture. What we need to do is slow, spread and sink the water into the landscape by doing contour diversions that would actually allow this water to flash our into the orchard and infiltrate. We want this to spread throughout the orchard, not concentrate and leave the orchard. We can do this! This is an easy kind of intervention to make in a landscape. And once you do it, it’s permanent.” – Connor Jones of Ojai Permaculture & East End Eden