by Kathy Whitlow, Operations Manager
The Nature Conservancy (a TRWC partner on past restoration projects at Independence Lake) has spent the last month raising awareness of water issues around the globe, culminating in a celebration on World Water Day today, March 22nd. As part of World Water Day, they’re asking the question, “Where does your water come from?”
World Water Day is a great time to remember how incredibly important conservation of water and protection of our watershed is. Even if you understand the basic science behind the water cycle, according to a 2011 Nature Conservancy poll, 77% of Americans don’t know where their water comes from. Knowing your water source is the first step to protecting it. The Nature Conservancy has created an interactive map of the drinking water sources for 493 cities across the globe, including 27 of the largest cities in the United States. If you are one of the 414 million people around the world living within these areas, you can now hop online and click around to find which rivers, lakes and streams supply water to your tap.
What can you do?
There are many ways to conserve water and protect/restore our watershed. One of the best ways to ensure that water is clean and safe is to make sure it follows a path through a watershed that is healthy. Here are just a few of the action steps you can take in our local area:
- Implement River-Friendly Landscaping to reduce erosion and lessen its negative impact on our watershed. Contact us for a free site evaluation of your Truckee-area property and to learn more about reducing or preventing soil erosion. Rebates for installing recommended measures are available while funds last!
- Report a weed! Become one of the Weed Warriors and help us spot and track weed infestations so we can help manage the invasive weeds that out-compete our native vegetation and destroy natural ecosystems.
- Volunteer – Help us get a snapshot of the health of the Truckee River on Snapshot Day… participate in a restoration project on Truckee River Day… take a Weed Walk or volunteer for a Weed Work Day with our Weed Warriors… Adopt-a-Stream… there are so many things you can do, large and small, that make a big difference in our local area! Take a look at our events calendar or program pages for ideas about how you can get involved.
- Donate – There are almost a hundred restoration and water quality projects here in this seemingly pristine place that need to be completed to ensure our watershed is functioning and beautiful. We gratefully accept contributions to the Truckee River Watershed Council to help tackle these projects.
Happy World Water Day, everyone!