1. How is the University of Redlands responding to the California
Drought? By Trevor Warren
The California Drought poses a major threat to our environment. Overpopulation,
production and consumption, and climate change have all been driving factors towards
the decrease in water. California is the biggest agricultural producer for the United States.
But while farming is one of the largest culprits of water use, many businesses have been
sucking the land dry of its moisture—including college campuses. Since the University
Redlands falls under this category, you may be asking: “what is our school doing to
respond to the California drought?” I am here to tell you.
First off, you may be wondering where our water comes from. It all starts with the
company Bear Valley Water. Normally, this water arrives from the dense snow packed
mountains of Big Bear through a series of pools before reaching ground level. The
drought, however, has changed things. Currently, there is no snow pack left on the
mountains, so pool levels are lower than usual. Usually, when these pools are full, there is
a river that runs through greek row. As of now, the only liquid hitting greek row’s dried
up river is the half gallon of Jack Daniel’s and Keystone Light from the night previous.
With people now realizing mother earth’s dehydration, measures are beginning to be
taken. The University of Redlands is no exception. On campus, water has been cut within
the past year by 35%. Most students are probably fascinated to hear this since they
thought the University of Redlands had to use a certain amount of water each day to
abide by their contract with Bear Valley Water. This contract has been rumored to be true
but it is nothing more than false. Director of Facilities Management Roger Cellini
confirmed this, firmly telling me, “there is no contract that tells us to use a certain amount
of water each day.”
Water use legitimately seems like a prime concern for Facilities Management. Rick
Quinbar, Associate Director of Central Utilities in Facilities Management told me, “we
look at our bills constantly. If we see something wrong in our average water use, we try
to correct the problem instantly.” Water use and economics go hand in hand. People in
higher positions of management like Rick Quinbar care about the amount of water use
because if water is overused then it affects his paycheck.
At the beginning of last summer, each dorm or apartment owned by the University of
Redlands was installed with low flow shower heads, low flow aerators, and most dorms
have low flow toilets. All these contribute to the conscious effort to reduce water. There
are many other projects in the works. One of the biggest projects is installing flush free
urinals.
The flush-free urinal project has been met with much opposition. The University of
Redlands is lacking modernization within their buildings. The location where urinals sit
on the walls have lower drain lines then what the flush-free urinals require in order to
function. If we install flush-free urinals then the school would therefore have to strip

2. apart the walls to completely replace the piping system, redo the tile to match the urinals,
expand bathrooms, and then install the flush-free urinals. Each urinal would cost about
$300, which is not that bad taken alone, but after factoring in all of the additional costs,
something thought to be easily payable would now require an investment of thousands of
dollars.
Many environmental projects need time. At a university where buildings are always being
used no matter the month, time is the enemy. Construction companies do not have the
work force to get certain things done before class is back in session. “The contractors
often tell us a longer time then we can actually do,” said Rick Quinbar. Every year the
Facilities Management is denied projects due to the amount of time needed to complete a
project. “It is just a hurdle,” said Rick Quinbar. Does this completely eliminate the
possibility of flush-free urinals in the future? No. But as of now, we do not have the time
or money to complete big projects like these. To become a “green campus” we need to be
patient because “It will eventually happen” said Rick Quinbar.
Another water-related issue in need of attention is nonnative grass and plants. “We live in
Southern California and it is a little ridiculous that we have this much grass,” said Perrin
Hess, a University of Redlands student working for Waste Management. It is, admittedly,
unwise to have planted a Mediterranean landscape within a desert climate. The use of
water gone to our landscape has been tremendous. In the years after the founding of the
University of Redlands, management has become more aware of the nature of this non-
drought tolerant landscape in that it clearly does not fit the climate of Redlands.
Within the past few years the conversion to non-potable water has virtually reached every
watering system on campus. Non-potable water is simply water unsuitable for drinking.
Other old watering systems have been replaced with drip technology. This has saved
thousands of gallons of water each month. In particular, “One shrub bed’s drip watering
system can save 200 gallons of water per week” said Roger Cellini. “Roger’s innovative
thinking has helped change the game,” said a grounds worker.
Additionally, older landscapes are now being replaced to fit our climate. With the
installation of drought tolerant plants and the cutting back of grass, water use has
staggeringly dropped. “I could honestly say our water use this year has dropped 250,000
gallons a month,” said Jeff McClintock, Grounds and Waste Management Manager.
Certain efforts to reduce grass acreage have all been fairly recent. One recent measure
involves reducing the acreage of grass on the quad. For instance, all trees on the quad
now have mulch rings around them. This project has eliminated an entire acre of grass
from the quad. Within this year, other projects are planned to reduce grass acreage. One
of these projects includes the removal of 2 or more acres of grass from the side of East
and West Colton Drive. Strategic projects like these all have meaningful contributions in
the effort to shift the University of Redlands to a more sustainable campus.
Nothing insurmountable is hindering the University of Redlands from being more
environmentally conscious. But, as Roger Cellini has said, “there is only a bucket of

3. money that can go so far.” He is right. We can’t demand unlimited improvement with
limited financial resources. In light of this, we must take action and act as a community,
not as a partisan group divided with management. In fact, we are causing many problems
which waste management’s time. “We get sidetracked with other tasks. We spend 40
hours a week picking up trash. If the students stopped polluting, I could have more of my
workers working on more environmentally friendly projects,” said Jeff McClintock.
Big changes are happening within our climate. It is literally dying right in front of us. I
don’t know how many more negative environmental events need to happen in order for
society as a whole to recognize that shit is getting real. This applies to both global and
local scales. With regard to our campus, is there more that needs to be done? Of course
there is. But we must keep in mind that we have a finite amount of resources with which
to work. For this reason, working civilly with facilities to bring about a more sustainable
campus is vitally important. At the same time, we must also make a conscious effort
within ourselves to be more environmentally friendly, because at the end of the day
individuals are the ones who create the initial foundation upon which change is built.