Emergence Magazine Podcast Thin White Line – Maya Pace
Sep 30, 2025
Maya Pace, a writer and facilitator with deep insights into California’s environmental challenges, dives into the complexities of loving a harsh and scorched land. She discusses how the 2020 fires revealed the hidden truths of California's ecology and shares memories from her commune upbringing that shaped her understanding of water management. Maya also reflects on lessons learned from drought in Utah, the implications of water scarcity, and the importance of surrendering to nature's realities rather than striving for an unattainable ideal.
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Albion Water-Bag Rejection
- Albion rejected a 2002 plan to bag and ship its freshwater to San Diego after locals ridiculed the idea and protested.
- Maya Pace recounts living near Albion and the community shutting down the proposal, keeping Albion "bag-free."
Paradise Built On Redirected Water
- California's water infrastructure moves water hundreds of miles, creating a green illusion over dry places.
- Maya Pace argues this engineering underpins a statewide ideal of paradise that ignores local ecological limits.
Fire Returned The Real California
- The 2020 fires woke Maya Pace to suppressed realities of fire and aridity in Northern California.
- She describes waking to a red sky and realizing fire wasn't merely 'useful' but revealing about our wrongheaded utility approach.