University adopts ‘Year of Water’ theme

As students both old and new begin to come back to Utah State University, administrators are putting the finishing touches on this year’s theme “The Year of Water.”

“We actually started to plan this theme back in January,” said Tim Vitale, director of public relations at USU. “Our inspiration for this theme came from the 50-year anniversary of powering the state’s water research.”

Vitale said it’s more than just that.

“We want to bring awareness to our great water research program, which we have broken down into five categories: ecosystems, water management, water and climate, water education and water in society.” he said. “Every college at USU is putting their best foot forward to try and cover these categories.”

The College of Arts is putting on a screening of “Chasing Ice,” an award-winning documentary about climate change and its effect on glaciers. In addition, the College of Agriculture is bringing in Sandra Postel on Sept. 21 to talk about the global water projects she has done.

The College of Science puts on an entire series of lectures called Science Unwrapped. The lecturers this year include Joanna Endter-Wada, who will be talking on water policy for municipalities and agencies; Wayne Wurstbaug, who will speak on the Great Salt Lake; Simon Wang, speaking on climate models related to drought and Jack Schmidt, who is the nation’s foremost authority on the geomorphology of the entire Colorado River system.

USU Extension is creating its own twist on this year’s theme called Water Education.

“We need to be saving 10 percent of our water every day,” said Morgan Pratt, a reporter for Utah Public Radio working with Extensions to spotlight the water issues in Utah and how USU is helping.

“Think about what we would miss out on if our favorite body of water dried up … I know I wouldn’t be the only student who would miss spending weekends at Bear Lake, and if we want to continue enjoying them we need to save water now,” Pratt said.

Vitale stressed the importance of water conservation.

“We need to breathe first, but the next thing we need to do is put water in our bodies,” Vitale said. “So, as a great research institution, we want to spend a year educating our students on water because it’s not just going to be something we use today. It will also be used in the future.”

— shaniehoward214@gmail.com