1A: For most of my life I grew up in a suburb of San Diego called Oceanside. Despite being close to the beach and the “water” it could offer in terms of desalination (Recently a desalination plant was installed in Carlsbad) and such, our water instead comes from distant rivers. The prior lack of desalination plants and closing of an aging nuclear power plant are examples of collective action problem in or around the community of southern California that demonstrate the “not in my backyard” mentality, which most citizens have. The water utility department purchases water from San Diego county water authority. SDCWA gets a majority of their water from the metropolitan water district of southern California (MWD)water. The MWD gets their water from the Sacramento/San Joaquin rivers through the state water project and the Colorado river via the Colorado river aqueduct. Roughly about 80% of the water in southern California comes from these two sources with the remaining coming from ground water, local surface water, etc. Wastewater is then treated at two treatment plants before I being released into the ocean or recycled.

2A:

Toilet: (assuming clean toilet!) one flush 3 gallons
Shower: about 1.5 times a day for roughly 15 minutes 112.5 gallons
Sink: Shave once a week, brush twice, 12 oz.
Hydration: about six 8oz cups 48 oz.
Cleaning: wash clothes twice a week and dishes vary due to use but around once a week 7.15 gallons a day
Estimated water usage a day is 126.4 gallons of water a day. (On a side note, this also excludes how much water is used in the production of lotion, shampoo, etc., and the water usage in making the containers)

Part 1c:
1. The bathroom, faucet and water fountain were the three outlets of water I used.
2. The rule was only to use water when necessary. Brushing, hydrating (keeps me awake in class) aren’t absolutely necessary but borderline needed.
3. Rather than taking a shower, I used a wet cloth to wipe my face and body. Secondly, since getting my curly hair “presentable” takes a lot of water I just wore a beanie instead. Also, helped that I don’t have to shave my face often. In addition, I didn’t exercise the day of experimentation as I would’ve been really thirsty so about a liter of water was adequate.
4. Although I already minimize my water usage in everything but showering, the experiment to me was a failure for several reasons. First, taking a shower wakes me up (its like COFFEE for me), hygiene purposes and I have somewhat long curly hair (like curly fries no joke) that needs constant watering for moisturization and to avoid tanglements. Also if I wanted to become more physically active I would need to use more water to cleanse myself after sweating, hydration and wash dirty clothes.
5. I was more conscience of how much water I used in routine tasks as an individual. The biggest drawback of conserving water is in the form of the daily showers individuals take. Though I take long showers compared to the average individual, when one considers how many gallons of water is used, this seems to be the biggest water use.
6. Geography matters to water use because the individual actions of how people use their water may strain or deplete the natural rate of water replenishment (the drier the conditions, the more efficiency is needed). This may in the end alter the collective ability of everyone water usage.