Water runs downhill, gathers at the bottom and hides under what grows. Look for it with the eyes of those who drink every day: plants and animals.
UNDERSTAND
Water follows the slope. It collects in hollows, small valleys, at the foot of cliffs, on the outside of a river's bends, and it keeps flowing underground long after the surface has dried out. A dry riverbed is often dry only on top.
Thirsty plants only grow where water is close: their presence is a signal you can read from far away, often from miles off. And every animal drinks. Many seed-eating birds and insects go to water every day, at the same times, along the same paths.
By the sea, rainwater soaked into the sand floats on top of the salt water, because it's lighter. A thin lens of fresh water forms under the dunes.
And the air holds water. At night, when the ground cools, it settles as dew on anything cold and exposed.
ACT
Go down and look at what grows
- Head downhill: small valleys, gullies, the foot of slopes, the hollow between two hills.
- Look for the greener lines in a dry landscape. Willows, reeds, rushes, cattails, poplars, alders, sycamores, ferns: they only grow with their feet in water or just above it.
- Follow animal trails that converge as they go down. They almost always lead to water.
Dig a dry riverbed
- Pick the outside of a bend, where the current dug deepest, or the lowest point of the bed.
- Dig a hole about forty centimeters deep. The sand gets damp: keep going.
- Wait. Water seeps into the hole within minutes to hours. Let it settle before you scoop it.
At the beach: behind the first dune
Dig behind the first dune, in a hollow, until water shows. Don't dig deeper than you need: lower down is salt water. Taste a drop. If it's salty, move farther inland and try again.
Watch the animals at dawn and dusk
- Pigeons, doves, small seed-eating birds fly to water in the morning and evening, low and in a straight line. On the way back, heavier, they stop more often.
- Bees usually stay within a few kilometers of water. Mosquitoes mean still water close by.
- Fresh tracks, droppings, well-worn trails heading downhill: the water is at the end.
Collect what doesn't flow
- Dew: at dawn, drag a clean cloth over tall grass and wring it into a container. A clear, calm night can give a lot.
- Rock hollows hold rainwater for days, especially in the shade.
- The transpiration bag: a clear plastic bag tied over a leafy branch in the sun. Within hours, water condenses at the bottom. Never on a toxic plant: see Les plantes toxiques.
ADAPT
Any water you find must be treated before you drink it, even clear, even from a spring: Making water safe to drink. With nothing to boil it, filter it first: Filtrer avec ce qu'on a.
In a city. The reserves are inside buildings: toilet tanks (the tank, not the bowl), the water heater (the drain valve is at the bottom), the pipes, which you empty from the lowest tap in the building. Pools and fountains are for washing and flushing, or for drinking after proper treatment.
In winter. Melt snow or ice before drinking it: eating it chills your body and costs energy. Ice gives more water than snow for the same volume.
You're staying several days. Collect rainwater instead of searching for it: Collecting and storing rainwater.
You're lost. Heading down toward water also brings you closer to people, who have always settled by water: Finding your way without instruments.