A Drop in the Bucket

An article in the newspaper Community Impact talks this month about the challenges Texas faces with water. With an anticipated population double in the next 50 years, it's time to start making changes to ensure that generations to come will have access to enough water to sustain the population.

Austin gets its water from Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan- both at their lowest points since 1940. With the population ever expanding it seems that more and more people are depending on less and less.

Lake Travis

Texas has a plan outlining how water should be used over the coming years, including new regulations on agricultural water and surface water rights. The ideas are in place, however the funding is not. The state not funding the water plan sends mixed-messages to residents about the severity of the problem. Travis County Commissioner Karen Huber says, "We do not have a culture of conservation, and the public needs education to embrace it. . . It takes time to make culture changes, and we need to get started." Her statement rings true not only in relation to this issue, but also several other public issues of today. Our society in general is a selfish and change-resistant people, taking what resources we need now and leaving our mess for future generations to clean up.

As architects and planners I think we have an invaluable opportunity to affect change like this at a micro level. Not only can be be proponents of the conservation policies set for by the State's new water plans, but we can educate our clients and friends about the severity of the problem, and propose collection and reuse systems that can improve the problem at a individual level. Every drop counts!