The issue that really hits home for me is water conservation. I am from New Mexico so we don’t get very much rain, ever! Yes I have seen snow (although most people are very surprised by this) but as a whole the southwestern region of the United States is drying up. The average rainfall in New Mexico is around 12 inches or less per year.
In New Mexico we conserve water, but places like Kansas and really wet (or rich) places seem to take water conservation for granted. Something that the University of Kansas can do is to have more efficient toilets, showerheads, and faucets in all of the dormitories and Greek housing. I personally love the beautiful landscaping and gardens that we have around campus, but I am sure we can have more efficient water use when it comes to lawn care and gardening. We don’t have to go as far as xeriscape, like we have in New Mexico, but just conserving even a little can help in the long run. We can still have the nice landscape but instead filled with many beautiful shrubs and plants that thrive with far less water than other species. Also I always see the lawns being watered when it’s really windy, or being watered too much and the water is running down the street. Shorter and better-watched watering times would help a lot too.
I know it is not a huge issue in Kansas, but it could be one day, so maybe the University of Kansas could start headstrong on this and lead our way to a brighter, wetter future.
- Julie
Editor’s Note: This post is one in a series published by students in the Sustainability Learning Community at KU. Additional posts from this series can be found under “LC” on the Categories list.
Keri Schreiner said,
December 1, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I agree that this issue doesn’t seem to be on very many people’s mind here in Kansas, but it is a very serious problem that we need to address. Like you said one way we can control our water usage here at the University of Kansas is to with the landscape. I have seen people watering the flowers and lawns the day after it rained, which is just wasting water. One thing the university could start doing is to plant native vegetation all around the campus. Plants that are native to this region don’t need extra water or extra care, which would decrease the amount of water we use on campus. Here, is a site I found that lists some plants that are native to this region.
Jessica Blythe said,
December 2, 2008 at 10:33 am
I totally agree that we need to conserve water, but not just because its the good thing to do. Kansas does have water shortage problems to an increasingly large degree! Even though Kansas gets significantly more water than New Mexico (between 20 and 30 inches per year depending on the region of the state), we also have some of the largest areas of agriculture, the number one water consuming industry. And if the water supply fails in KS, the food supply for the whole country is in jeopardy. Think about the Dust Bowl during the Depression.
Joe Stogsdill said,
December 2, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Speaking on behalf of the 75% of me that is water, I think we should definitely make an effort to conserve it. We waste billions of gallons of water everyday in the US by merely by being careless. Reducing your impact can be as simple as keeping the water off while brushing your teeth, refrigerating your water so that you don’t have to run the tap everytime you want a drink, or not pouring unneeded water down the drain when you can use it to water plants around the house. For more water saving tips check out http://www.sscwd.org/tips.html
Dominic Conti said,
December 4, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Indeed there is a problem with water conservation in kansas, and planting native grasses and plants will help to conserve water. But what about planting grass that is specifically designed to survive in low moisture/water environments. While they may not be native grasses they should not be overlooked as an alternative.