Droughts have always been a problem in the Western United States. The first major recorded drought in the United States was from 1890-1896. Since then, scientists have thought that we should be careful and considerate of how we use our supply of water, especially nowadays with our more advanced technology. The West suffers from low supplies of water, and we haven’t been conserving as much water as we should. Millions of U.S. citizens over-use our supply of water for unreasonable activities such as 30-minute long showers, filling pools, washing clothes unnecessarily often, and watering lawns.

In an interview with Hoover Highschool Environmental Science teacher, Mr. Sisk, he explained that, “Unlike other countries, the U.S. is one of the only countries that doesn’t have two separate water supplies. This means we use the same water for drinking, washing cars, bathing, flushing toilets, washing clothes, filling pools, watering lawns, and whatever else you can name.”

Another factor that contributes to water use and droughts in a negative way is climate change, which is something we can only help to a certain extent. We need to put in a little more effort to reduce the different ways we waste water. According to www.cenus,gov/popclock, the population of the United States is around 326 million people. As a result, when people with access to water over-use it, everybody added up can make a huge negative impact on our supply, causing more water to be pumped from aquifers.

One way that people can reduce their water usage is by changing their eating habits. “Simply reducing our beef intake can save water,” suggested Mr. Sisk. “The beef industry uses massive amounts of water to grow the feed for the cattle, and in processing the cattle. One pound of beef takes as much as 1,800 gallons of water to make.” That is equivalent to four burgers. Eating less beef will send a message to the beef industry and reduce the amount of water being used.

Another way that people can reduce their water usage is by not watering lawns. Lawns are simply just large sections of grass. We pour 30-300% of our water on lawns, states droughtresources.unl.edu. Grass does not benefit us in any way because it is just a symbol of wealth and life status. As stated on installitdirect.com, replacing a 1,000 square-foot lawn with fake grass can save up to 55,000 gallons of water per year.

If people spread this information to others, we can make a huge difference in the drought. There are many ways we can save water no matter where we live, whether we pay for the water or not, how old we are, and what our intentions are.