Water, water everywhere

I vaguely remember (possibly from Geography lessons in school - see Mr Roberts, I learned something in your dull lessons) that the definition of a desert is based on annual rainfall. I don't know what the annual rainfall is here, but it hasn't rained since we arrived (at the beginning of September, almost 6 weeks ago), although occasionally the weather forecast says that it might rain soon. So, if it's not a desert officially, it's got to be close.

despite this, everywhere is lush and green. Every house we have looked at had a lush green lawn. One place told us that the only gardening duty of the tenants was to water the lawn. Another that they were going to have automatic sprinklers put in. If one happens to to be awake in our apartment at about 4am, the sprinklers come on outside, and they are loud. In the morning, there are large puddles all over the paths.

It's the same on the bike path on the way to CoCE, the grass is lush and green, and there are puddles everywhere in the morning. No one (well, almost no one) seems to think this is weird or bad. Well, maybe the people who live in the place where the water comes from, and now don't have any.

CoCE seems slightly better. They use cleaned up urban runoff water to flush toilets and water the lawn. And it's not grass, it's something else, which (I like to think) doesn't need watering as often. But I can't believe that there's that much urban runoff left.

(Urban runoff, it seems, is grim stuff, and it's better to avoid chucking it in the sea - it's got engine oil and dog shit and all sorts of nasties in it.)