Earth Week Day 4: Water Usage

April 20, 2023

If there’s anything that can absolutely not be disputed amongst all the residents of the Ruby Valley, it’s the essential purpose of water to sustain all aspects of life throughout the valley. So how do we use it and control it efficiently, and what exactly is it used for? In honor of our related classroom activity, we’ll answer all of these answers today!

The Flow of Water From One Property To Another

As water moves downstream, it is gradually used by plants, wildlife and landowners for a wide variety of purposes, and even more of it is diminished by flood or drought. As a result, land further downstream will have much less water than there was at the top of the river. In order to preserve water to be used for all parts of the watershed, we must use the resource thoughtfully and continue to implement river restoration practices that will further maximize the efficiency and health of the water system.

This is why water rights are so significant. Water rights are specific rules declaring exactly how much water each landowner can use, in order to have a fair system in place for landowners that are further downstream. Negotiated based off of given information describing what each landowner needs the water for and accounting for the impacts of wildlife, these rights provide stability in what would otherwise be a rather chaotic series of attempts to ensure that you have enough of the most valuable resource in the valley!

Water Demands In The Ruby Valley

The following video was made by the local Ruby Valley Strategic Alliance to demonstrate how drought has impacted life in the valley. Check it out!

That’s all the time we’ve got for today’s lesson; I hope you guys learned at least a little something new, and hopefully, I’ll see you next time.