Interview with Alexander Homami, An Aware Teen's Thoughts on Saving our Water

Question: What do you know about the world water crisis?
Answer: The planet is losing water. We use water on a daily basis and it is running out. People are polluting the water with trash so that it becomes unavailable.

Question: How do you think this problem affects your community?
Answer: We are in drought and our daily lives require that we have water. Once we use up all of our pure resources, there will be no other option left for any of us.

Question: What do you think are other people's views on this issue?
Answer: Though some people may not know about it, others are either actively volunteering in the community, making choices at home that are water efficient, or don't believe that the problem will effect them. Some day we will all be massively effected by this crisis.

Question: How do YOU specifically know this issue is a problem?
Answer: We are learning about it in school and I watched a video with my sister that had statistics about the amount of fresh water in lakes decreasing by up to 40% and how we've been using so much water that we've had to resort to using ground water.

Question: What actions have you taken to get this problem closer to being solved?
Answer: I've started taking shorter showers, I turn off the water while I'm brushing my teeth, and we have water-saving toilets at home. It doesn't seem like much, even to me, but I am convinced that it will make a big difference in the long run.

Interview with Dean Kubani, Sustainability Manager at the City of Santa Monica

Q: How do you think general water problems affect the community?
A: Water issues affect everyone in Santa Monica every day because there is less rain and therefore less water available for drinking, cleaning, etc., it impacts everybody in their daily lives. And because Santa Monica is a beach city, water pollution affects our local environment and economy.

Q: What do you think are other people's views on this issue?
A: I think a lot of people know about the drought now because it has got so much media coverage, however, I see people waisting water everyday. So I think that are aware of the drought but aren't concerned enough about it that they are changing their behavior to save a lot of water. I think people in Santa Monica are pretty concerned about water quality in the ocean and that has helped improve it over the past ten years.

Q: How do YOU specifically know this issue is a problem?
A: It is my job to know because to two of the main parts of my work are to find ways to use water more efficiently and to make sure Santa Monica Bay doesn't become more polluted. Because of that I spend a lot of time talking to researchers, reading scientific studies and attending conferences that focus on these problems and how to solve them.