USU housing waiting on Water War results

The results of Utah State University's first Water Wars competition is currently being processed at USU's Water Quality Lab will be released later this month.

The continuity of Water Wars will be determined by the success of this year, according to Gary Phillips, the resident director of the Student Living Center and head of on-campus housing's sustainability involvement.

Water Wars was initially introduced in light of USU's "Year of Water" celebration and the 75th anniversary of water testing in Cache Valley.

"If it looks like it had any sort of significant impact on water usage, we'd like to do it next year," Phillips said. "If that were the case, we'd do more promotion and incremental prizes like Energy Wars."

Energy Wars is a campus-wide competition held during October and November that measures the energy consumption of USU's residential areas.

Similarly, Water Wars tracks the water consumption of residents in efforts of raising awareness of environmental issues and reducing water intake.

Lauren Holt, the student director of the Residential Service and Sustainability Institute on campus, thinks initiatives like Energy Wars and Water Wars is necessary for educating residents and initiating change.

"Knowing something is different than practicing something," Holt said. "These fun competition allow residents to actively make a difference."