“An ephemeral stream is a stream or part of a stream that flows as a result of precipitation and is above the ground water reservoir. Ephemeral streams are found at southwestern perennial stream headwaters.”
The term ‘ephemeral’ is based on the Greek word εφήμερα meaning lasting for only a day. It applied to plants or insects that lived only a single day and later to ideas that quickly became useless or irrelevant. In California the naturalists talk a lot about ‘ephemeral’ streams, because they come and go with the rain and you can’t rely on them. Folks like to observe that these are the kinds of streams one gets ‘in the west’ and it’s always been that way.
Except it hasn’t.
Once upon a time California looked really different. There were no freeways or cell towers, no huge concrete dams, and the streams were unpolluted. There were different people living here. Peaceful tribes scattered all over the state. And guess what? Our GROUND WATER looked different too. Because there were these furry little engineers storing water everywhere like oompa loompas and making sure it didn’t get to the ocean until it had done its work on land. You can’t believe how moist and green everything looked.
Then the Russians, Canadians, French and Europeans hunted down the furry engineers and sold their protective outer coating for top dollar in what is sometimes called the fur trade, but what was actually the GROUND WATER TRADE.
California traded it’s precious groundwater for a few coins that were spent in other states.
Penny Chisholm is an MIT professor and award winning scientist who wanted to teach children about the origins of groundwater and worked with artist Molly Bang to explain it. The entire series looks fascinating but I’m especially drawn to this latest volume for obvious reasons. (Thank you to Robin Ellison of Napa for sending this my way.)
How the smallest, most abundant bacteria inspired a children’s book series
The pair has since created the “Sunlight Series,” a collection of children’s books written about different environmental topics from the point of view of the sun. The latest in the series, “Rivers of Sunlight: How the Sun Moves Water around the Earth,” explains the global water cycle.
The series is meant to stand the test of time by explaining fundamental processes, but that doesn’t stop Chisholm and Bang from briefly acknowledging humans’ uncertain impact on the environment by touching on topics such as climate change and fossil fuels. Chisholm asks, “If you don’t understand that the mass of plants come from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and that there’s a massive exchange of CO2, from photosynthesis and respiration, how can you understand the role of fossil fuels and climate change?”
In 2013, Chisholm was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama for her research. To balance teaching, conducting research, and writing books, Chisholm typically works a lot on the Sunlight Series over the summer, the time of year when Bang also resides in Massachusetts. “Everything I do is a lot of work, but it goes in spurts,” Chisholm said. She and Bang had been brainstorming a book topic for about a decade before publishing “Living Sunlight” in 2009.
Hurry for Penny! Making sense of water for everyone! There is a greater chance we will protect what we understand. The water cycle is pretty complicated and there were many parts to explain. But Penny made sure to include the real heroes in this tale. Check this out, because it makes her our new best friend and an ideal candidate to be on Mike’s Beaver Institute Advisory Board, don’t you agree?
Something tells me Dr. Chisholm is a true beaver believer and wears her own brass rat with pride!
