With a strong current emphasis on composting, recycling, and waste, it can be easy to overlook the simple habits of water conservation that are just as vital. Water is the miracle solution that makes life possible on Earth. If we fail to save our water, it won’t be long before ecosystems will collapse and humanity will face dire consequences. Many of the current environmental dilemmas are associated with the failure to conserve water, specifically freshwater. Without clean water, agriculture would struggle, therefore hurting our economy and the livelihoods of farming communities; without clean water, there would be inadequate sanitation and higher vulnerability to diseases; without clean water, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs would dry up and deplete groundwater as well as impact water-dependent ecosystems, eliminating the biodiversity that ultimately sustains humankind. 

Here in Park City, we rely on water for our economy and recreational activities. Without clean water, we could not ski, swim, golf, boat, or raft down rivers. Without clean water, everything from individual lives to economies to the environment would be in distress.

If all individuals were to adopt conservation water practices, the compounded effort would have a positive effect on our environment. Here are some tips to conserve:

• Turn off the faucet/shower when not using it (e.g. washing in the shower or brushing your teeth).
• Take shorter showers! A 10-minute shower uses about 25 gallons of water.
• Never pour water down the drain; instead, find another use for it, like watering plants or refilling water bowls for pets.
• Repair leaks and drippage. 
• Be laundry-aware (e.g. minimize the number of loads and fill them up)
• Take showers instead of baths. 
• “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.” 

More communities are starting to implement conservation practices: Californians after some extreme droughts and Capetown, South Africa after battling their 2017 drought. We should be no different, even when water is plentiful. It’s important to remember that our water does not belong to us; it is a resource we share with every other living thing and must be treated as such.

By Grayson Rae