Water is water--
it’s puddle, pond, sea.
When springtime comes splashing,
the water flows free.
from Water Can Be…
written by Laura Purdie Salas
illustrations by Violeta Dabija
Millbrook Press, 2014
When news stories on similar topics are reported within days of each other, I tend to pay attention.
Last Tuesday (8/11/26), I heard an interview with Katie Spotz about her plan to single-handedly row her boat across the Pacific Ocean to raise awareness of water scarcity.
Two days later, my newspaper ran a short article about Matt Rutherford. He had to postpone the completion of his potential record-setting solo attempt to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean when Russia’s Northern Sea Route Administration (NSRA) advised him that a large ice-field blocked him from sailing through a portion of his journey.
The next day, an article in PBS news told of an ancient structure called Nero’s Bridge that has begun to emerge from what used to be the depths of Rome’s Tiber River. Scholars believe the bridge was built by Nero’s uncle Caligula, possibly as early as 39 CE (Common Era).
While archeologists can more easily study sites that had been until recently, unreachable, the world is “facing a major water crisis,” says Giovanni Giganti, coordinator of the Rome civil protection service’s center for water management.
A link from that article led me to one from August 6, telling of the water level drop in the Danube River. It is so low now that German warships, sunk on purpose to avoid Soviet forces who were advancing deep into Europe toward the end of WWII, are re-appearing.
The problem on the Danube is two-fold. Most of what is left of the sunken fleet is too dangerous to easily remove. The explosives they carried are still on board. And the dropping water levels have made it dangerous for the usual ship traffic. The Danube flows through 10 countries. The big ships can’t sail through.
It’s also a little remarkable that both Katie Spotz and Matt Rutherford are, like me, from Northeastern Ohio. That’s where the similarity ends, though.
Katie’s goal is to help bring clean water access to 100,000 people. She’ll do it by collecting donations to support her 10,000 mile transPacific trek from Peru to Australia in a 23 foot rowboat. Through “Give Clean Water,” part of Save the Children and the Sawyer Foundation, affiliated with charity: water, Katie chose to make Fiji, a nation made of 300 islands, the beneficiary of her project. Only the main island has clean water. Some of the 100 inhabited islands are difficult to reach, so Islanders must travel by boat to get there, costing time and money the islanders don’t have.
According to Katie, “$10.00 can give one person clean water for a decade.”
Katie will be leaving Mentor, Ohio this week. She’ll wait in Lima, Peru for a good travel window, January or February 2027, when she’ll begin her sail to Cairns, Australia. You can learn more about her mission and more about “Her Long Row for Water” at her website You can watch her when her webcam is set up.
Matt Rutherford’s voyage was to be a fundraiser for his climate science nonprofit, the Ocean Research Project. His purpose for starting the organization is to “Help scientists better understand the problems facing the oceans.” His projects have included calling attention to the “alarming amount of plastic debris in the Ocean” that he discovered on his solo journey around the world. In 2013, Matt successfully mapped the eastern half of the Atlantic Garbage patch and a year later studied microplastics in the Pacific Ocean. He’s worked in Greenland with scientists investigating the profound impacts of warming oceans on Greenland’s ice sheet, including the effects of melting glaciers on sea level rise.
This year, Matt’s voyage to the Northwest Passage is only possible because of the melting ice in the Arctic Ocean. So maybe the ice sheet making him postpone completing the trek is good news.
Meanwhile, here in the US, Lake Mead has lost an inch of water since the beginning of August, 2026 (not a typo). As the water levels in Lake Meade and Lake Powell continue to drop and as drought conditions, especially in the western half of the US stubbornly persist, threats loom over the power supply.
Lake Mead is only 27% full. Lake Powell, 23/%. The Colorado River flows through both lakes, and seven states depend on its water. Water for agriculture, economic growth, and the growing controversy over the amount of water and energy demanded by data centers. CBS News in Arizona reports that the seven states are working out policies to share the water and hope to have a plan by October 1, 2026.
Almost one-half of the United States is experiencing drought conditions.
Increasing the development and use of solar power is an obvious part of the solution, but comes with its own cost of both dollars and time.
It’s up to the willingness of each of us, our communities, and especially our governments the world over, to recognize real problems and work together to solve them.
It took a long time (due to interruptions, not lack of interest) to finish The Calamity Club by Katheryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau, 2026), but so well worth my persistence. One of the best books I’ve read this year, it’s a story told through relatable characters, a setting that comes alive, and details that tell the truth. I laughed and cried with Meg, Birdie and Frances, Charlie, Mrs. Tartt, and even Garnett and the Heidelbergs as they lived their intertwining lives with guts, gall, and horrifying humor.
Be curious! (and take care
of your little corner of our Earth)
it’s puddle, pond, sea.
When springtime comes splashing,
the water flows free.
from Water Can Be…
written by Laura Purdie Salas
illustrations by Violeta Dabija
Millbrook Press, 2014
When news stories on similar topics are reported within days of each other, I tend to pay attention.
Last Tuesday (8/11/26), I heard an interview with Katie Spotz about her plan to single-handedly row her boat across the Pacific Ocean to raise awareness of water scarcity.
Two days later, my newspaper ran a short article about Matt Rutherford. He had to postpone the completion of his potential record-setting solo attempt to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean when Russia’s Northern Sea Route Administration (NSRA) advised him that a large ice-field blocked him from sailing through a portion of his journey.
The next day, an article in PBS news told of an ancient structure called Nero’s Bridge that has begun to emerge from what used to be the depths of Rome’s Tiber River. Scholars believe the bridge was built by Nero’s uncle Caligula, possibly as early as 39 CE (Common Era).
While archeologists can more easily study sites that had been until recently, unreachable, the world is “facing a major water crisis,” says Giovanni Giganti, coordinator of the Rome civil protection service’s center for water management.
A link from that article led me to one from August 6, telling of the water level drop in the Danube River. It is so low now that German warships, sunk on purpose to avoid Soviet forces who were advancing deep into Europe toward the end of WWII, are re-appearing.
The problem on the Danube is two-fold. Most of what is left of the sunken fleet is too dangerous to easily remove. The explosives they carried are still on board. And the dropping water levels have made it dangerous for the usual ship traffic. The Danube flows through 10 countries. The big ships can’t sail through.
It’s also a little remarkable that both Katie Spotz and Matt Rutherford are, like me, from Northeastern Ohio. That’s where the similarity ends, though.
Katie’s goal is to help bring clean water access to 100,000 people. She’ll do it by collecting donations to support her 10,000 mile transPacific trek from Peru to Australia in a 23 foot rowboat. Through “Give Clean Water,” part of Save the Children and the Sawyer Foundation, affiliated with charity: water, Katie chose to make Fiji, a nation made of 300 islands, the beneficiary of her project. Only the main island has clean water. Some of the 100 inhabited islands are difficult to reach, so Islanders must travel by boat to get there, costing time and money the islanders don’t have.
According to Katie, “$10.00 can give one person clean water for a decade.”
Katie will be leaving Mentor, Ohio this week. She’ll wait in Lima, Peru for a good travel window, January or February 2027, when she’ll begin her sail to Cairns, Australia. You can learn more about her mission and more about “Her Long Row for Water” at her website You can watch her when her webcam is set up.
Matt Rutherford’s voyage was to be a fundraiser for his climate science nonprofit, the Ocean Research Project. His purpose for starting the organization is to “Help scientists better understand the problems facing the oceans.” His projects have included calling attention to the “alarming amount of plastic debris in the Ocean” that he discovered on his solo journey around the world. In 2013, Matt successfully mapped the eastern half of the Atlantic Garbage patch and a year later studied microplastics in the Pacific Ocean. He’s worked in Greenland with scientists investigating the profound impacts of warming oceans on Greenland’s ice sheet, including the effects of melting glaciers on sea level rise.
This year, Matt’s voyage to the Northwest Passage is only possible because of the melting ice in the Arctic Ocean. So maybe the ice sheet making him postpone completing the trek is good news.
Meanwhile, here in the US, Lake Mead has lost an inch of water since the beginning of August, 2026 (not a typo). As the water levels in Lake Meade and Lake Powell continue to drop and as drought conditions, especially in the western half of the US stubbornly persist, threats loom over the power supply.
Lake Mead is only 27% full. Lake Powell, 23/%. The Colorado River flows through both lakes, and seven states depend on its water. Water for agriculture, economic growth, and the growing controversy over the amount of water and energy demanded by data centers. CBS News in Arizona reports that the seven states are working out policies to share the water and hope to have a plan by October 1, 2026.
Almost one-half of the United States is experiencing drought conditions.
Increasing the development and use of solar power is an obvious part of the solution, but comes with its own cost of both dollars and time.
It’s up to the willingness of each of us, our communities, and especially our governments the world over, to recognize real problems and work together to solve them.
It took a long time (due to interruptions, not lack of interest) to finish The Calamity Club by Katheryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau, 2026), but so well worth my persistence. One of the best books I’ve read this year, it’s a story told through relatable characters, a setting that comes alive, and details that tell the truth. I laughed and cried with Meg, Birdie and Frances, Charlie, Mrs. Tartt, and even Garnett and the Heidelbergs as they lived their intertwining lives with guts, gall, and horrifying humor.
Be curious! (and take care
of your little corner of our Earth)
RSS Feed