Making a Splash at the WRRC Conference
From an Inside Perspective: Zakkai Markowitz, Program Coordinator. Arizona Project WET
I had the privilege of attending the Water Resources Research Center's annual conference for the first time this year, and I had a fantastic experience. As a lifelong desert dweller and passionate environmentalist, I was fascinated to hear so many different perspectives on our most crucial resource – water! Seeing the hard work that members of our community are doing daily in service of water conservation here in Arizona was both humbling and inspiring.
I was particularly engaged by the presentation given by Raluca Mihalcescu on the work she has done at Arizona Water Company to promote community engagement in water conservation. Her emphasis on Arizonan’s collective responsibility over our water resources, and the need for and incredible benefits of collaboration resonated strongly with me. It was amazing to me just how many organizations with wildly different goals were all present at this conference, working together to solve the issue at hand.
The highlight of my experience was undoubtedly the opportunity to meet Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, who has been a personal hero of mine for several years. Hearing her speak about her administration’s commitment to water conservation was both exhilarating and heartening. It filled me with hope for the future to know that despite the scale of the problem, we will be able to tackle it together with the right leadership.
The feeling of hope was my greatest takeaway from the event overall. It is easy to fall into despair when one spends time reading about water in Arizona, but I have never felt quite so optimistic for our future as I did following the WRRC conference.
I hope to see you all there next year!
Zakkai Markowitz