The current drought in the East Bay has spurred UC Berkeley to implement a number programs to become more water sustainable, but many students are still not conscious of the need to conserve.

Five months ago, a drought management plan was passed by the board of directors for the East Bay Municipal Utility District that asked users to ration their water.

Under rationing, users are asked to consume an average of 15 percent less water. While the district is currently not doing so, they could issue citations to those who overuse water.

The campus has complied with the need to ration water by instating several water conservation projects that range from drought-resistant landscaping to installing low-water flow toilets.

Cal Dining and the residence halls also have programs in place to promote water conservation.

On Sept. 26, all campus dining halls will experiment with going "tray-less" to save the water needed to wash trays, said Cal Dining Director Shawn LaPean.

"I know that we, in housing (and) dining have targets; aggressive targets for water conservation from East Bay MUD," LaPean said in an e-mail.

LaPean added that flow restriction devices have been installed on all water faucets in the dining halls and that leftover food is being composted instead of washed down the garbage disposal.

The residence halls are educating students with a program called Student Sustainability Education Coordinators, said Andrea Sohn, chair of the Residential and Student Service Programs Green Committee.

"This year, one of the main focuses is going to be water conservation because we are in a drought," she said.

Sohn said she hoped to use residents' competitive spirit to help them save water.

"We've put up a program called 'Wash, Rinse and Go' to encourage students to take shorter showers, and we're going to start a program called 'Water Wars,' where students compete to see who can use the least water," she said.

Though the campus is actively pursuing water sustainability, many students said they were unaware of the current water crisis.

"I haven't heard about (the drought)," said UC Berkeley senior Matt Guilhem. "But winter's coming, we'll be fine," he said with a smile.

But with the past two winters measuring among the driest on record, Californians may be anything but "fine."

According to William Stewart, a UC Berkeley forestry specialist with the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, water district reservoirs can withstand one year of drought with no substantial impact on users.

"But two years of drought becomes a big problem," he said.

Carolyn Remick, executive director of the Berkeley Water Center, an organization that supports water-related research, said that people have to change the way they use water.

"We're going to have to be more vigilant in how we use water personally," she said. "I think there is so much potential for us to cut back on water use."

But some said it might take time for the idea of water conservation to become a part of a student's environmental conscience because it is much less publicized than other environmental issues such as recycling.

"Recycling is something that's more visible-something that people actively talk about," said UC Berkeley junior Rahul Deedwania. "I think people just take water for granted."

Tags: RSSP, EBMUD