By Don Patterson
I won’t go into the other hats that I wore during Jesus’ administration—city dog catcher, city mortician, city gardener, etc. It’s not that they aren’t important, but, for the most part, they are urban issues, and our efforts to get to the bottom of our environmental problems were focused on the rural upstream watershed. But in wrapping up this series of articles, I need to make a couple of confessions.
Sadly, it took me too long to present to the mayor a proposal for restructuring the Department of the Environment and Ecology. There were only nine and a half months left in his admiration, and the election for the office of mayor was up for grabs, as I recall, in July 2009. But no matter who won the election, Jesus and all of his cabinet, including me, had to turn our offices over in mid-October. As my father would say, “You are an hour late and a dollar too short, boy.”
To a large extent, the articles I’m writing in this paper are part of a very long letter to my 14-year-old grandson, Matias. Of course, the focus of the letter is entirely about watersheds. However, in the letter, I write of various adventures I’ve had within many of the watersheds in Mexico and beyond. After all, he is 14. However, the problem for me is to confess to the public and my grandson that I failed.
It was several administrations later when Francisco Peyret became the director that my failure really became apparent. Francisco informed me that he had found all our research and subsequent publications in the municipal Archivo Muerte (Dead Files). I doubt they were ever read.
Looking back at my failure to generate the interest of public officials to continue managing and repairing the watershed, I can see that I was just not smart enough. However, many of you are much smarter than me, so I give you a challenge. Take the free course on the U.S. EPA website: https://www.epa.gov/watershedacademy/watershed-academy-web-training-certificate.
I believe that after taking the course, you will come to the same conclusion as I: Understanding watershed ecology (the science) and watershed management (application of the science) are an important step to resolving our current environmental problems as well as assessing our abilities to adapt to whatever climate change may bring.
If, after taking the class, you would like to discuss your ideas for our watershed, please contact me at donaldopatterson@gmail.com.
