Water is used in many ways in everyday life. We use it to shower, for laundry, dishes, etc. There are many other ways water is important to everyday life besides just those essentials.

My Papo (Beck), for example, uses water to irrigate the yard and the field where the horses graze. He has a system of water pipes connecting on the lawn. Some of them run from the Cabresto ditch on certain days when we are rewarded this precious resource. In the water pipes and hoses, he has certain spots with holes drilled so it becomes a makeshift sprinkler and moves the water to certain spots. In the horse field, there is a small ditch that runs down the sides and he again uses water pipes to move and manipulate the water to different areas.

Before doing this, there are a few days of ditch cleaning that must happen to clear the “seca” of debris so the water has room to run. There is a group of people who gather with shovels, backhoes, and gloves. They remove the branches and other plant debris from the ditch, make a huge pile and burn it with the supervision of the fire department.

This is just one of the many ways we recycle water and give it back to the earth to keep the plants and trees green so they can provide the oxygen and food not only for us, but for the animals and insects as well.

—Aubrey C., 5th Grader at Alta Vista Elementary and Intermediate School