A big shout out to Amelia Wright, a student at Brush Creek Elementary, for bringing to our attention the importance of conserving water here in Colorado. Amelia correctly points out several ways that we can conserve water within our households. And to expand on her goal, another important action we can take is to cut our outdoor use of water.
About half the water that gets used here in our valley is for outdoor use, typically for the irrigation of grass and flower gardens. Only about 25% of that water finds its way back into our river -- 75% of outdoor water use is consumed by plants, or evaporated, and therefore lost from our watershed forever.
Concerning household uses of water, as Amelia points out, it is important to use it more efficiently. Fortunately, about 95% of water used indoors gets processed by our wastewater providers and then returned to the river. This water is then used by other communities downstream and eventually flows into Lake Powell.
Thanks, Amelia, for joining the crusade to protect this scarce resource! With attitudes and commitment like yours, our scare resource -- Rocky Mountain water -- is in good hands.