Returning to campus full of excitement after being remote last spring, Kent students may not have noticed the lack of rain since their arrival. The “good” weather has been welcome news for students and faculty alike, since virus-protection protocols encouraged students to spend more time outdoors. However, despite the fact that the recent nice weather allowed us to stay outside and follow COVID guidelines, the dry weather is becoming a problem for the town of Kent, as well as most of Connecticut.

Recently, the State of Connecticut’s Department of Health Drinking Water Section has officially declared drought conditions throughout the state. And in accordance with their guidelines, Kent School’s facilities department has asked everyone in the school community to conserve water. In fact, assistant Facilities Director Jonathan Tomlinson advised members of the community last week to “take shorter showers, make sure no faucets, toilet or bathroom fixtures are left on and running, and try to limit any unnecessary water use.” He added that “the maintenance department should not water any lawns nor power wash any buildings or sidewalks.” Mr. Tomlinson further advised that, though Kent has enough water to handle daily usage needs, the community’s commitment to saving water will be crucial to helping both the town of Kent and the entire state overcome its scarcity. 

Kent News also interviewed Mr. Houston, varsity boys crew coach and current biology teacher at Kent. When asked about the current state of the bordering Housatonic, he said that at the beginning of the school year he was “concerned that we would not be able to row on the river at all due to it being so low.” In fact, he remarked that he has never seen the river as low as it was in late August. Despite the concern, however, Mr. Houston added that the remnants of the tropical storm that hit Kent a few weeks ago helped a great deal, and  “although we were without power for almost a week, the rain did help the water level in the river.” As for the crew team, they monitor the river daily as the drought continues and appreciate every little bit of rain they get this fall. 

So happy to be on campus again, Kent students may not have noticed how dry it’s been, but the level of our river neighbor tells us that the current situation is very serious. Even though they are not competing, so that our league champion crew team can continue to keep rowing this year, the entire community should try our best to conserve and keep our fingers crossed for more rain!