On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the University of Idaho hosted the Water Week aqua fest— a row of nine tables behind the ISUB representing different businesses, student clubs, civil organizations and other groups.
Everyone was very excited to talk about the steps their group was taking to conserve water and protect wildlife, specifically in Idaho’s national forests and rivers.
The whole week is dedicated to sustainability and promoting water conservation at the University, with other events such as the swim-up movie taking place on Friday, Sept. 18.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories was enthusiastically talked up by a student who is a chemical engineer who works on the equipment and the water that keeps it all clean. She described her job as “very fun, and always interesting,” explaining that the company has a daily recycled water percentage of 92.9% due to their great efforts.
This company works with the city of Moscow to distribute power throughout the area, doing their utmost to protect the environment, water and still provide the magic of electricity to this lovely town. Brooks said that the company works with the university in progress towards better environmental habits, as well as innovation in the products the company makes.
A civilian group was also present, Friends of the Clearwater table being manned by some very friendly representatives, including Paul Busch, who passionately advocates for maintaining the federal roadless rule established in 2001, the possible rescission of which is open for public comment until the beginning of October.
This rule helps protect open wild lands from being paved over and made widely accessible. Proponents of removing it suggest that more roads would help with firefighting and land protection, while opponents claim that roads would lead to more human-caused fires and problems in the wild.
Alongside this, Busch talked about the Friends of the Clearwater’s goal to help repopulate the big fish in Idaho’s national forest rivers, the numbers of which are declining as they are over-harvested and living in increasingly polluted waters. Their name, Friends of the Clearwater, is indicative of their motives; to keep the waters of Idaho clear and safe for both animals and humans to live in, near, and to enjoy.
Other organizations present at the aqua fest included UIs very own College of Natural Resources, the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Initiative, the Society for Conservation Biology and several others.
The tables were busy for the majority of the three hours they were out, as many of the tables were offering free bags, stickers, and other paraphernalia to help promote their united cause.
The multitude of ways in which the natural world around us can be protected and well served was exemplified in this row of tables that hailed the students of UI. So much of the information they shared was fascinating and useful to the public.
The Aqua Fest was the central point of Water Week at UI, offering free information and propositions to the passers-by who use gallons upon gallons of water a day, without ever really thinking about it, and how could they? The infrastructure required to get water to every person, all day, every day, is massive, and is yet another riveting aspect of the invisible inner working of this world that most of us don’t think about on any given day.
Selah Mathis can be reached at [email protected]