Saving for a rainy day

By Kyle Richardson |Staff Writer|

For the last four years, California has been in a severe drought.

Recently, the State has taken action to reduce monthly water usage by 25 percent.

This has slightly helped California’s drought, but there are other ways that Californians can help reduce water consumption.

We should be more cautious in using water.

“I do not really think about the amount of water I use, to be honest,” said student Lian Raya.

Ninety percent of the state remains in the drought, down from 97 percent two months ago, according to the United States Drought Monitor.

Recently, this past winter’s El Niño has helped replenished reservoirs and dry conditions.

However, that should not stop Californians from rationing and doing their part in saving water.

I think that California should continue to keep the monthly reduction rate of water at 25 percent a month, as well as keeping most of the local laws that keep people from watering their lawns or washing their cars during the day.

Approximately nine million acres of farmland in California are irrigated, representing roughly 80 percent of all human water use according to Public Policy Institute of California.

That water use will continue to be the same, as California must continue to farm.

So where else can we cut water?

Each Californian uses an average of 181 gallons of water each day, according to United States Geological Survey.

I work in a restaurant and the greatest waste of water I see is when customers order a glass of water along with their beverage.

Now, if you are going to drink that water, I do not mind refilling it.

But multiple times a day, there are full glasses of water that go unused.

Recently, we have posted on all tables that we will no longer give or refill water unless asked for.

I know it is not much, but the little things we do can have an impact.

“The biggest area that we can help save water is definitely in the bathroom,” said Raya.

“Shorter showers and just turning off the water when I brush my teeth, would probably help,” added Raya.

Think about the amount of water you can save by cutting your shower time in half.

My friend told me the other day about his uncle, who actually puts buckets in the shower with him.

All the water that runs off into the buckets, he then uses it to water his plants.

Now that is doing your part in conserving water.

If we each take action like putting buckets in the shower or just watching our water use while we are in the bathroom, we will all help California’s water drought.

We should do our own little part in conserving water for our home state because, God forbid, the day we wake up wishing we could have done something differently.