If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember the Looney Tunes cartoon characters Tweety the canary and Sylvester the cat. Tweety always managed to avoid Sylvester’s predatory ways, much to viewers’ amusement. Unfortunately, the reality is that wild birds all too often do not manage to escape alive from Read more…
Even after such a long dry summer, it seems we always have the wet winter waiting for us, and indeed the average rainfall here amounts to just under three feet (838 mm) annually. So where exactly does all that rain go, and why do Mayne Islanders need to be careful about water consumption?
When you pour yourself a cool, fresh glass of water, remember it comes out of an aquifer in the ground, sometimes not too far from where our household wastewater (sewage) ends up. Many of us moved to Mayne from a city where smelly waste is whisked away in big pipes Read more…
Groundwater is a critical element that supports the health of our ecosystems and the hydrological function of watersheds. The concern today is that changes in seasonal precipitation, evapotranspiration, recharge, and saltwater intrusion are threatening this precious resource. Groundwater – A Primer The unsaturated zone above the water table contains soil Read more…
In this article series, we have been exploring ways we can learn to live lightly on Mayne Island, and one important consideration when trying to lessen our impact on fragile ecosystems is how we manage our waste. Because Mayne Island does not have a landfill, it is easier (and cheaper) Read more…