"Get out of my drinking water!"
Novice crew team coxswain Suzanne Pinckney remembers the cry well. The first-year College student heard it during an afternoon crew practice at the Rivanna Reservoir as a vocal motorist crossed the bridge over one of Charlottesville's main water sources.
If anyone sees the effects of the drought, it's Virginia's novice and varsity crew teams, who spend hours rowing on the sinking surface every week. The rowers are eyewitnesses to the day-to-day changes the Rivanna undergoes.
The water has receded so far back from the natural bank that stretches of mud -- some 25 to 30 meters wide -- line the reservoir. Tree stumps that were once deeply submerged now jut out of the water or lurk just beneath the surface. Rowers who aren't careful risk a collision with the stumps.
The most striking testament to the drought's severity are the large rocks along the banks. The normal water line is a thick black stain that runs across the length of the boulders. Last week, it sat a solid four to five feet above the current water level.
Under normal conditions, the teams can row a length of 10,000 to 12,000 meters without having to turn around. Since the drought worsened, that length has dropped to 5,500 to 6,000 meters, estimated novice coach James DeFilippi.
"We can't do longer races anymore, we have to spin around a lot more," DeFilippi said.
And while the rowers watch the bottom drop out from under them at the reservoir, students are feeling the effects of the falling water level in their daily lives -- everything from flushing toilets less frequently to drinking bottled water to taking speed showers offers continual reminders of the growing crisis.
Adjusting on Grounds
With the increasing severity of the drought, first-year College student Jamie Pope now has a new responsibility added to her role as her dorm's recycling coordinator.
Conservation Advocate.
All first-year dorms elected a resident to fulfill this role, and that person's primary duty is to remind students of the standard conservation practices, such as taking short showers and turning off the water when shaving or brushing teeth.
Some conservation advocates have taken steps of their own, such as putting waterless hand sanitizers in the bathrooms and encouraging their peers to combine their laundry with that of a friend to ensure machines wash only full loads.
Conservation advocates also pay close attention to any leaky faucets or showers and ask students to report them immediately to the Housing Division.
"From what I've seen, everyone is pretty conscious of [the problems] and, for example, pays attention to the signs in O-Hill that recommend drinking only one glass of water," Pope said.
Some students express concern, however, that those who live in on-Grounds housing are less likely to conserve water because they don't face the penalty of an increased water bill for over-consumption.
"Unfortunately, living on Grounds it is easy to forget how much water you're using," said fourth-year College student Jakara Hubbard, a resident advisor in Metcalf House. "First years don't have to pay utilities and we all suffer from living in a bubble-world on Grounds with little awareness of the community's problems around us."
Wallet protection
For students living off Grounds, conservation is a must if they want to avoid billing penalties. On Sept. 16, Charlottesville City Council approved a 50 percent rate increase per billing cycle on water use over 600 cubic feet -- about 4,800 gallons.
Some students are examining their water consumption patterns in alarm, knowing they will have drastically to reduce their water usage or pay the price. Second-year College student Lee Martin said his six-person apartment on Jefferson Park Avenue nearly doubled the limit on their last water bill, using 8,500 gallons.
Lauren Quilian, a second-year College student who lives on Grady Avenue, takes the situation very seriously. She and her roommates are following some of the more popular conservation practices: trying to use fewer dishes, buying paper plates and plastic utensils and combining their laundry.
"I get so mad at people when they are wasteful," Quilian said emphatically.
Some rental companies have taken additional steps to curb excess water use. MSC Rentals used to include water in the general rent bill, but the company now charges specifically for water use, said second-year College student Joy Burka, an MSC renter. Other companies, such as Woodard Properties, continue to charge a flat fee for utilities despite increased water prices.
CBS Rentals has taken a variety of steps to encourage their tenants to conserve. They have ordered 470 conservation kits that contain reduced-flow shower heads, water savers for toilets, test kits for leakage and faucet inserts. Maintenance officials will install the devices in all CBS properties at no charge to residents.
Jim Stultz, a CBS manager, said the company "wrote a letter to the city asking them to review their water policy because we think it is unfair to students," because the rate increase affects all households, regardless of the number of tenants. Additionally, CBS management wrote a two-page letter to their tenants providing suggestions gathered from new sources on how to cut down on water usage. One suggestion says to avoid flushing the toilet after every use, and the letter quoted the increasingly familiar rhyme:
"If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."
Business as usual?
But the water crisis is not limited to homes -- businesses in the Charlottesville area are feeling the pinch as well.
The Biltmore is using plastic cups at the bar, offers bottled water before tap water, placed bricks in the toilets to prevent excess water circulation and workers now sweep the outdoor patio instead of hosing, said second-year College student Kate Malay, a waitress at the Biltmore.
Malay said she is proud of the restaurant's efforts, but on busy nights, the water situation makes her nervous.
"After the football game last weekend, we were packed and we had a line out to Elliewood, so I kept wondering if we'd have to 86 the water, soda, iced tea and coffee," Malay said. "Beer and liquor consumption has never been so vital to the community's welfare, and I applaud my tables for recognizing that," she added with a smile.
But other students haven't been able to smile so much when discussing the drought's effects on their jobs.
The University closed Memorial Gymnasium's pool Sept. 23 and as a result, all University lifeguards lost the hours they may have worked at that location.
Second-year Engineering student Brigitte Hoyer, who lifeguarded at Mem Gym and the Aquatics & Fitness Center, has lost four of her six working hours. Although lifeguards who worked at Mem Gym may substitute for AFC guards who cannot fulfill a shift, Hoyer is disappointed she will no longer have the regular hours she was counting on this semester.
"I guess it makes sense to close Mem as long as the AFC stays open," Hoyer said. "But it's just really frustrating."
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