Fate Versus Choice

Growing up in New England, there was a lot of water around. Going to college in Oregon, there were big, super-wide, deep rivers running through cities. Having lived most of my adult life in Colorado, there are, according to Zebulon Pike in Patty Limerick's 2012 A Ditch in Time, “sparsely flowing streams and rivers.”

Zebulon was a soldier and an explorer. In 1803, at the age of 27, he was living in St. Louis, Mo., when he was sent by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the western boundaries of the recently acquired expanse known as the Louisiana Purchase.

When Zebulon got to the foothills of what would later become Colorado, he not only belittled the limited flows of our streams but also professed that there was “no hope for an American Settlement” in this area. With these insights, he declared the fate of the “western front” would be the western borders of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers—because “the prairies were incapable of cultivation for the new world.”

Despite this wisdom, and with time, others made a different choice. About 50 years later, gold was discovered in the “sparse” rivers flowing into the area known as Denver, and in 1859 the prospect of gold drew 100,000 people there.

As fate would have it, two events in 1881 would forever change water. The first was the creation of the American Water Works Association, which, interestingly, happened in St. Louis—the same place Zebulon started his 1803 western exploration. The second 1881 event: Denver became the capital city of Colorado (which became the 38th state in 1876—thus its nickname, the “Centennial State”).

You may be asking yourself, Why is Denver's becoming the capital of Colorado something that forever changed water? The simple answer: Denver is where AWWA is headquartered. Zebulon went from St. Louis to Denver, and so did AWWA. Was it fate or choice that created these parallel journeys?

There is at least one other fate-versus-choice water consideration related to these historical events. Like all cities, Denver would not exist without water—remember, the Colorado streams sparsely flowed. Take it from me—it was not fate but rather a series of choices about how to capture, clean, distribute, conserve, and reuse water that has allowed Denver to prosper. It could be fate, however, that brought AWWA to locate its headquarters in 1974 on land that was owned by Denver Water.

Personally, I am not a believer in fate. I don’t think too many water professionals are. It is hard to be in a profession where everyone everywhere depends on you, and people like you, to make the right choices about their water. Imagine a water professional waking up and saying, “Heck—I think I will just leave things to fate today.” That idea is funny only in that it is absurd; fate does not provide safe water.

The importance of choice, not fate, in shaping the future of water is obvious. That is why AWWA's Water 2050 initiative is so important. Think of two kayakers on the same river. One paddles through the rapids, making wise choices about the current, and eventually rests in a calm destination on the river. The other kayaker floats and allows the current to take them downstream, with the idea that any destination will be fine. Personally, I would want to be the first kayaker—paddling to the destination that I want. The second kayaker, on the other hand, is waiting for the future to come to them—and that future might be a waterfall.

It seems clear to me that waiting for the future to come to you (i.e., leaving the future to fate) is a bad strategy—in fact, it is not a strategy at all. Charting a path to the future you want requires a series of choices that, together, result in a strategy and increase the likelihood of a better outcome. It is this type of vision that launched Water 2050.

Decades from now, someone may reflect on the history we lived, and they may see connections that appear to be the results of fate—just as I have illustrated in the first part of this column. But we will know that (as John Connor said in the movie Terminator 2) “there is no fate but what we make.” You can learn more about the Water 2050 program on AWWA's website, awwa.org. We’d be happy to have you “paddle” with us.

One last factoid: Colorado has 58 mountains that rise above 14,000 feet in elevation. One of these mountains is named after Zebulon—Pike's Peak. When he first came to Colorado in 1803, he was enamored with the mountain and attempted to climb it, but he never reached the summit. I ask you—was it fate or choice?