Imagine a daywithout water

In September, the City of Santa FeWater Conservation Program held its 15th annualWater Fiesta. Over the course of two days, more than 650 students attended five different water-focused activities at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Some started a whole new journey with our newPassport Program, which will allow them an entire year of water-oriented activities and field trips.

It’s difficult to teach water conservation out of the context of the bigger picture. When students learn about where their water comes from, how it’s treated, disinfected and distributed to the point where it comes out of their tap, the connection is much easier to make on why we should conserve the resource. Thanks to the many volunteers from partnering organizations such as the Office of the State Engineer, Sandia National Labs, Santa Fe Botanical Gardens, and City of Santa Fe staff, we were able to have another very successful event.

October is “Imagine a Day without Water” month. The campaign has run for three years and raises national awareness on what a day without water would actually be like. On a larger scale, things like firefighting ormedical care in hospitals could not occur. In our homes we could not cook, clean, flush our toilets, or do the simplest things. Restaurants could not function. According to the “Imagine a Day withoutWater” website, a single day without water service would result in a loss of $43.5 billion of economic activity nationwide.

This month we are partnering with one of our commercial business partners, Second Street Brewery, to create a social media campaign on the value of water. With a focus on the SanMateo location, we were able to identify several parts of the restaurant that would be affected. From the beginning of the day when the food is being prepared, operations would come to a complete stop. Vegetables could not be washed, food could not be cooked, and drinks could not be served. On the sanitary issue, tables could not be cleaned, dishes could not be cleaned, and hands could not be washed. With Second Street Brewery, there is also the issue of beer production. Being without water would completely shut this business down for a day. There would be nothing that staff would be able to do, which would result in a loss in revenue that would continue until water was available again.

We couldn’t be happier to collaborate with Second Street Brewery on this project to bring further awareness to the community on the value of water and to help us imaginewhat a daywould be like without it. The awareness helps all of us fromtaking it fromgranted and helps us value it that much more. For more information on the campaign, visit www. imagineadaywithoutwater.org. For more information on the campaign with Second Street Brewery and all of our other programs visit www.savewatersantafe. com.

Christine Y. Chavez has a background in water-rights administration and energy and water conservation program management in the state of New Mexico. She is a graduate of New Mexico State University with a B.S. in environmental science and an M.S. in biology. Christine is the water conservation manager for the City of Santa Fe. She may be reached at 505.955.4219 or cychavez@santafenm.gov.