Deserts are environments that can be inhospitable even to those who know the region.
Craig Childs has spent years in the deserts of the American West, and his treks through arid lands in search of water reveal the natural world at its most extreme.
Join us for virtual conversations on Facebook discussion threads with moderator Eric Gordon, at our Facebook page.
And, review the inspiring discussion from our Facebook Live event with Craig Childs!
Online moderator Eric Gordon was the former managing director of Western Water Assessment, a university research program that studies how communities across the Intermountain West are affected by climate and water.
The Secret Knowledge of Water Book Themes Part 1
Hear about water that is here and there briefly in the desert, like water pockets and puddles after a rainstorm, and how animals in the desert survive on these small amounts of water. View on Facebook.
The Secret Knowledge of Water Book Themes Part 2
Childs writes about seeps, springs, and streams and how this water affects life in the desert bringing life to the most unexpected places. He also writes about how central water is to life and culture, like to Hopi and Zuni Indigenous communities. How is water important to your life and your community? View on Facebook.
The Secret Knowledge of Water Book Themes Part 3
Childs writes on the effects of floods on the desert landscape, that during powerful rainstorms the desert can get all its water for a year in only 6 minutes! Having all this rainfall at once changes the desert through flooding. Childs writes about chasing rainstorms and sometimes getting a bit too close. What are you thoughts and experiences with powerful rainstorms and floods in the desert? View on Facebook.
Suggested Book Club Discussion Questions
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On page 5 of The Secret Knowledge of Water, Craig Childs writes about our “common knowledge of water” that he says does not apply to the desert.
What is your “common knowledge of water”?
How would that help or hinder you if you were exploring the Southwest desert in a place like Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona? -
Author Craig Childs of The Secret Knowledge of Water writes, “In a part of the world inundated in water politics, I chose to look elsewhere than the dams and compromised rivers and skeletal canals...It was desert water I was looking for, the water that is actually out there, that has been out there for thousands of years.” (pp. xv-xvi)
What do we gain from taking such a perspective?
What do we risk overlooking? -
What does water mean in your personal life?
What does water mean to your community?
What Southwest water story would you share?