image of spanish creek

 

There is a saying that you never miss the water till the well runs dry. That has resonated throughout California and other drought-stricken parts of the country this year.

Water is the theme of this year’s World Listening Day on July 18th. The annual celebration of sound and soundscapes is raising awareness of the global water crisis by inviting people to reflect upon our increasingly complex relationship with H20. Scientists say climate change will mean more severe droughts in many parts of the world, and that this year’s extreme conditions are a preview of what may become the new normal.

Here, the sound of water is the sound of a changing West. Spanish Creek in southern Montana is the lifeblood of a wide and open valley near Big Sky, and this July 2015 recording is our World Listening Day contribution.

 

Listen to sounds of Spanish Creek on SoundCloud

 

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image courtesy of USDA NRCS MontanaCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license and the GNU Free Documentation License.