How can we fight a drought?

Find a High-Quality, Reliable, Sustainable Water Supply

By Melanie Schumacher

When you get right down to it, there are just two basic things that humans can’t live without: water and food. Providing one of those (We can’t live without water!) is what the Soquel Creek Water District is all about!

Water is the most precious of our natural resources, critical for our survival and growing our food. While a human can go for two or three weeks without food, our bodies require water on an ongoing basis in order to function. It’s estimated that a person could survive without consuming water only up to about four or five days, depending on environmental factors. We absolutely need water – but what about the things that we seem to depend on every day, but which aren’t necessarily needed for survival?

If you were to sit down today and think about some of the items you can’t live without, what would be your top ten items?

We performed some extensive, deep, and wide-ranging statistical research (not really… it was an Internet search) to find out what people think they can’t live without, and some of the results are rather interesting. Some people say they can’t live without technology — computers, high-speed internet access, smart phones, etc.

Those may be deemed essential to our everyday life, but few if any would argue they are necessary to human survival. Others mention things like love, joy, family, education, and play. Those are certainly factors that are critical to our overall well-being, but are not considered vital to one’s actual physical survival.

What are things you just “Can’t live without?”

Chocolate • Pets • Music • Cuddles • Money • Internet • Ice cream • Wine • Vacation • Netflix • Toilet paper • Pizza • Love and sex • Toothbrush • Partners • Water • Friends • Books • Television • Bed • Car • Washing machine • Exercise • Laughter • Friends • Family • Shelter • Hot shower • Jeans • Electricity • Coffee

Most of us learned at least a little bit about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in school. As a reminder, it’s a generalization of the range of rudimentary human needs expressed as a pyramid, with the more basic physiological needs at the bottom, the needs for safety, love and belonging, and esteem in the middle, and the need for self-actualization at the top.

Of course today’s world is radically different from 1943, when Maslow first expressed his observations — as you can see from our Internet list of things we can’t live without. But his Hierarchy of Needs is still an accurate description of fundamental human needs.

We propose that if there were an additional foundational level in Maslow’s pyramid, it should be water.

Water is essential to every individual’s life; it’s central to our community’s well-being. The District’s mission — to provide a safe, high quality, reliable, and sustainable water supply to meet our community’s present and future needs — is thoroughly consistent with the community’s basic needs for today and the future.

There is no denying that water is a most critical “can’t live without it” item. And — for those of you who argue that life isn’t worth living without coffee or beer — I love to always point out, “Without water, there is no coffee or beer.”

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As always, if you have any questions about this month’s topic or anything else related to Soquel Creek Water District, feel free to contact Melanie Mow Schumacher at melanies@soquelcreekwater.org or 831-475-8501 x153 and visit www.soquelcreekwater.org.