As the California drought worsens, AWHS students are beginning to raise awareness about the issue on campus. As a result of high water consumption and a lack of rainfall, Phoenix Lake, located in Ross, is becoming threateningly low. The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) has forecasted that local reservoirs will be depleted of water within the next two years. 

With AWHS club day approaching on September 22, a new student-led Water Conservation Club is being organized by junior, Aiden Mann, who intends to incite a difference. In response to the water shortage, the AWHS Water Conservation Club is embarking on their first year on campus and Aiden is beginning to promote his club. 

“Our generation is the way forward,” Aiden said. “Do you need to be taking such long showers? Do you need to be washing your hands so often?” 

While people of Aiden’s age have been involved in the water issue, he remains unimpressed with AWHS’s actions towards decreasing water usage. 

“There is no word of water conservation attempts at Archie Williams,” Aiden said. “I’ve heard nothing.” 

With serious droughts being a yearly occurrence in California, Aiden is collaborating with other students in his club to begin acting on the issue.

According to Aiden’s research, the group of people commonly responsible for water depletion is homeowners, who usually allocate water towards the lushness of their lawns or by having the most people within a household. In the Water Conservation Club’s first year, its goal is to build a website consisting of articles and podcasts to provide homeowners with information on how to conserve in times of severe water shortage.

Climate Adaptation Ecologist, Kristin Tremaine Davis, is a project manager for Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Management (AECOM), one of the world’s largest engineering consulting firms. Tremaine explains ways that the Water Conservation Club could begin to take action. 

“The first step is educating people. Make the students more aware. Yes, your facilities are affected, you can’t water your lawns as frequently, but I think that a lot of people do not have a broad understanding of the drought or what the drought means,” Tremaine said. 

Drought is here, but the Water Conservation Club is beginning to take action. With reservoirs depleting faster every year, the AWHS student body is beginning their journey towards a more sustainable county.