Staff and Students discuss effects of the worst drought in nearly half a century. Illustration By Nicole Watson
By Eden Buell
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ssistant Principal Nicole Sandoval has lived in California her entire life, but she’s never seen wildfires like the kind she has experienced in the past few years. She said seeing what has happened makes her worried for the coming years. “i think It’s scary, I didn’t have things like fire season when I was growing up.” Sandoval said. In the past few years California has experienced several major wildfires including the Campfire in 2018 that burned 153,336 acres, destroyed 18,804 buildings, and killed 85 people. Part of the cause of these fires is the drought California has been experiencing. This drought is said to be the worst in nearly half a century. We spoke with several AHS teachers and students to hear their concerns and opinions regarding the ongoing drought situation in California. Living Earth and AP Biology Teacher Samantha Johnson states that droughts are mostly caused by climate change. There are also a few issues tied to droughts, such as, the lack of knowledge of droughts and how they work. “I think droughts are caused by climate change. The problem we keep running into with droughts is that people your age have been in a drought for so long which makes it feel like normal. “ Johnson said. Johnson also believes there’s an issue with groundwater, water used for wells. “I have a friend who lives with well water, and she has gotten to the point where she can’t use her well water because there is no ground water anymore.” Johnson said. Living Earth Teacher Brian Fredin also states that droughts are due to climate change, he knows people that aren’t able to even get water. He believes that the way we eat is a big factor in why we experience climate change. “Here in California we are experiencing droughts due to climate change. I know people in the central valley that might not even have water sometimes. One big reason why we
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experience climate change is because of the way we eat here in this country. Once food is thrown away, We bury the food and it rots and it turns into methane which is a greenhouse gas.” Fredin said. Junior Iseya Estella is worried about the drought as well, he believes that people should cut back on their water usage. She thinks that using too much water is the reason why we are in a drought today. “I think the major reason why we have droughts is using too much water or using more than we need.” Estella said. Johnson thinks that the main reason why droughts continue is because of the lack of knowledge people have about droughts, “People who don’t really know much about droughts and they think the drought is over once we get a day or two where we get a lot of rain, But that’s not how that works.” Johnson said. While on the other hand, Fredin thinks that food waste is the larger problem to this country’s drought, “We experience climate change because of the way we eat here in this country. Once food is thrown away, We bury the food and it rots and it turns into methane which is a greenhouse gas.”. Fredin said.w To prevent the drought from affecting AHS, Johnson believes we should take the action of removing some of the grass we have here. She also suggested that AHS could put in special irrigation systems, an artificial application of water to the soil through various systems of tubes, pumps, and sprays. She made a last suggestion of the district to do something about low flow toilets. “So we have a lot of grass, we should have less grass. There are a lot of drought tolerant plants that we can have instead of lawn, like rocks, or succulents. There are also special irrigation systems that could be put in called drip irrigation, so instead of sprinklers coming
on and spraying water everywhere there would be special irrigation systems. They [ the school district ] can be putting in low flow toilets, the problem is a lot of that costs money.” Johnson said. Fredin proposed that we as individuals can use less water, and change the way we eat. He also recommended that the school district can change meal plans for students, like Ms. Johnson, He too urged the school district to try and put in low flow toilets. “The easier things you can do is take shorter showers, use less water, and change the way we eat. We should compose our food and eat more fruits and vegetables. The school district can place a more plant friendly diet or meal plan, they are also responsible for all the toilets and how water is conserved, so they could fix that.” Fredin said. The school district has already put in many measures to combat the drought. Sandoval reached out to Head of Maintenance in the School district, Alex Navasca. Who stated that, “The District is currently changing landscaping, using drip irrigation, and using native plants in mostly elementary schools. We are also using more redwood trees to help vegetation stay cool, and maintaining a well water system. We’ve also installed 650 automatic flushing toilets. ‘’ Navasca said. Johnson, Iseya, Fredin, and Sandoval all collectively agree that people being knowledgeable of the severity of this and many other droughts, is a step forward to preventing such extreme droughts such as the one we are in now. Students, teachers, staff, and the district can all do their part in educating others about the drought that is affecting our community greatly. “I think knowledge is power, That’s very important to me. Keeping up to date with the science and making sure everyone around me also knows about the science.” Fredin said.
