California is now in its fourth straight year of below average rainfall, and this past winter was one of the warmest on record. The snow pack in the Sierra Nevada has a water content of only 5 percent of the historic average, the lowest since 1950. This has placed California firmly in one of the worst droughts in the state’s recorded history.
Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency back in January and encouraged all households, cities and businesses to do their part to conserve water – and that includes schools.
In fact, water conservation is the cheapest, fastest and most reliable way to stretch water supplies.
To that end, the California Department of Education’s school facilities and transportation services division has created a new web page with drought response best practices and resources to help schools reduce water usage. The site features specific actions that schools can take to conserve water and has extensive resources where you can go for more information.
And to help spread the word, check out CDE’s Twitter campaign where schools are invited to share best practices using the hashtag #WaterWiseSchools.