It had been raining for several days and Boris was happy. At this time of year the rain would soak into the ground and fill the local aquifers. Along with the spring runoff from the snow melt in the mountains, the groundwater was being quickly recharged this spring. The weather had turned cooler and the leaf sprouting had slowed a little bit, but with the increasing sunlight this wouldn't last for very long. Once the leaves were out and the trees began their full cycle of growth and photosynthesis, taking up all of the water from the surface around them and as deep as their roots, which for some was quite deep.
A forest needed plenty of water during the growing season and could quickly put an ecosystem into drought conditions if the ground water wasn't replenished earlier in the spring.
In a world where survival depended on the amount of water available, it wasn't always survival of the fastest or the fittest, but of the one with the deepest tap root.
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