Survival Tips to get water in the Desert

It's very possible you could end up in a desert survival situation one day. Several million people live in the American southwest states a specifically California, Arizona, and Nevada. They are surrounded by deserts. Several million more people live in the State of Texas another state with vast stretches of desert. Deserts are famously difficult places to survive in, and even if you’re not lost on your own among the dunes, the climate can be uncomfortable, debilitating and dangerous. 

Make Water Priority

 

If you're going to be anywhere near the desert, water is an absolute priority. Without proper planning, you may never make it out. To find water in the desert, your best sources of fresh water are going to be streams and springs though yes, they are going to be few and far between, perhaps impossible to find in huge stretches of desert. Any available streams may in fact be underground. Lakes, in the desert, may have high salt content, if you detect a salt-water taste, this is water that will need to be distilled first, to remove any salt. Below is a ways of water gathering in the desert.

Desert Water

Water seeks the lowest level available and on the desert these may be underground. If you see hills, head toward them, for the likeliest place to find water is at their base. Perhaps you have come across the thin shallow bed of a stream. Even though it is dry, water may lie beneath the surface. Hunt for a low place in the cut and dig. The same procedure applies in the case of a dry lake bottoms. The presence of any water will soon be indicated by damp sand.

Game trails in desert country usually lead to water. Follow them downhill if the land so slopes that you can do this with certainty. Otherwise scout around till you can, MAKE SURE in which direction the paths have become more frequented and this will be the way to go. If you happen upon a palm, you can depend on water being at hand generally within several feet of the base of the tree. Reed grass is also a sound sign that moisture is near. However in general it is futile to search water near desert plants, for this one has already taken it, so use the plant itself from its roots which you dig, pull and section off. As seen above. As for the cactus you cut off the head. In the Arizona desert there is a cactus in a bottle shape which contains near 7 quarts of water but only in Arizona. But with a good knife it will take you some 40 minutes of hard work to cut the very tough and prickly skin. The water is in the plant not in the soil. The only danger comes from milky sap as seen from cactus in African desert, yet the Barrel cactus is the milky exception.