drought

Faith and water conservation in the desert

California is in a severe drought. Normally it rains in the time from mid-October to March, but for the past few years it has been bone dry. Some say we may only have a year of water left. We are thirsty.

No rain in California is a disaster for all of us. But the drought, now entering its fourth year, is also an opportunity.

As people respond to the needs of their particular place, they are also shaping the experiences of people elsewhere.

U.S. farm policy badly needs an overhaul. But first, amid the worst drought in decades, Congress needs to pass an uninspiring farm bill.

Stretches of emptiness are not unusual in life, nor in the life of faith.

Life in Africa's Sahel region is precarious. There is little biodiversity, annual crops offer a meager harvest, and when the rains don't come famine does. But there is a way to break this cycle.