Got Water?
Thacher responds to the California drought.
The state of California, along with much of the Southwest, has been in a state of drought for four years and the water supply has significantly diminished. In January of 2014 Governor Brown declared a drought state of emergency in California. According to the United States Department of Agriculture more than 62 percent of California's land area is experiencing extreme dry conditions. With very little rain in the past four years and less than 20 percent of the normal snowpack in the Sierra, California finds itself in a dire situation.
On campus, that has meant a redoubling of efforts to reduce our water use. Leading that effort is Thacher's new director of facilities, Ed Bennett. After taking a close look at Thacher's water usage this summer, Ed is now implementing some important changes.
Additionally, thanks to another generous donation, Thacher looks forward to installing five water-bottle refilling stations by the upcoming Fall Family Weekend. These stations will encourage students, faculty, and staff to carry around reusable water bottles rather than relying on water fountains or bottled water. The refilling stations have digital counters that provide instant feedback to the students and demonstrate the impact of using a reusable water bottle rather than disposable plastic.
The School is taking water conservation even one step further by declaring the upcoming Family Weekend a "Zero Waste" event. In a letter to the parents of current students Kipper Berven '15, head of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC), outlined some of the School's main efforts towards more sustainable living. He drew attention to the pig and composting programs initiated by the EAC, but also discouraged the use of single-use plastic water bottles. This task should be made even easier with the new refilling stations.
While the water situation in California is a precarious one, The Thacher School and many other people and organizations are doing their part to be more conservative and careful with water use.
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On campus, that has meant a redoubling of efforts to reduce our water use. Leading that effort is Thacher's new director of facilities, Ed Bennett. After taking a close look at Thacher's water usage this summer, Ed is now implementing some important changes.
"To start," Ed explains, "in the second week of August we reduced irrigation by one-third to one-half for all turf except the Lower Field, the New Field, the Pergola, and the Putting Green. On an annual basis this should save us around 1.4 million gallons of water. In July, we reduced agricultural irrigation from once every seven days to once every 10 days, which should save us 270,000 gallons annually." In total, given Thacher's annual usage, these cutbacks amount to about a 10 percent reduction in Thacher water use.
Thanks to a generous donor, the Upper Field is getting special attention that will not only reduce its water needs, but improve its playing surface and drainage (when the rains finally come). Crews are in the process of installing a new subsurface drip irrigation system that will deliver water directly to the roots of the turf, which is far more efficient than the previous above-ground sprinkler system. It will take about 6-9 months of regular watering to establish the turf before we can rely on just the subsurface watering. Once established, the field will not require any visible watering and will use 40 percent of the water it used before to remain green and ready for athletic play. This is a reduction from about 2.4 million gallons to 600,000 gallons. This alone will reduce Thacher's water usage by an additional 10 percent once it is established.
The next item to tackle is the potable water usage and the School is developing a water management plan that will outline steps to reduce here as well. For example, introducing dual flush toilets, low flow faucet aerators, and low-flow shower heads could reduce our potable water use by 25 percent, saving about 1.5 million gallons annually.
Thanks to a generous donor, the Upper Field is getting special attention that will not only reduce its water needs, but improve its playing surface and drainage (when the rains finally come). Crews are in the process of installing a new subsurface drip irrigation system that will deliver water directly to the roots of the turf, which is far more efficient than the previous above-ground sprinkler system. It will take about 6-9 months of regular watering to establish the turf before we can rely on just the subsurface watering. Once established, the field will not require any visible watering and will use 40 percent of the water it used before to remain green and ready for athletic play. This is a reduction from about 2.4 million gallons to 600,000 gallons. This alone will reduce Thacher's water usage by an additional 10 percent once it is established.
The next item to tackle is the potable water usage and the School is developing a water management plan that will outline steps to reduce here as well. For example, introducing dual flush toilets, low flow faucet aerators, and low-flow shower heads could reduce our potable water use by 25 percent, saving about 1.5 million gallons annually.
Additionally, thanks to another generous donation, Thacher looks forward to installing five water-bottle refilling stations by the upcoming Fall Family Weekend. These stations will encourage students, faculty, and staff to carry around reusable water bottles rather than relying on water fountains or bottled water. The refilling stations have digital counters that provide instant feedback to the students and demonstrate the impact of using a reusable water bottle rather than disposable plastic.
The School is taking water conservation even one step further by declaring the upcoming Family Weekend a "Zero Waste" event. In a letter to the parents of current students Kipper Berven '15, head of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC), outlined some of the School's main efforts towards more sustainable living. He drew attention to the pig and composting programs initiated by the EAC, but also discouraged the use of single-use plastic water bottles. This task should be made even easier with the new refilling stations.
While the water situation in California is a precarious one, The Thacher School and many other people and organizations are doing their part to be more conservative and careful with water use.
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A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs.