The Drought Problem
What is Civic Engagement?
What Is Civic Engagement? Definition and Examples (thoughtco.com)
"Civic Engagement describes how individuals become involved in their community to make a positive difference in the lives of their fellow citizens"
Civic engagement | social science | Britannica
Second Definition: "Broad set of practices and attitudes of involvement in social and political life that converge to increase the health of a democratic society"
Personal Definition
I think Civic Engagement is getting involved with the community to make it a better place, but also to get people to bring personal changes to their own community on issues that has plagued for so long.
Community Issue: Drought
One issue that I believed plagued LA was the Drought. Although this is more of a natural occurrence with where California is located lots of unresponsible citizens / businesses have made it worse with over usage of such valuable resource. With personal experience living in the drought isn't a fun time but making progressive action to make it less harmful for our environment and our community is what we should look forward to. This issue has been a concerning issue for my community because different people have adjusted to methods of treating water and making sure the amount isn't overused unnecessary.
Links:
https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/05/california-water-use-up-19/
https://www.drought.gov/states/california/county/Los%20Angeles
Facts:
- "The effect of over water usage and the drought has cost the California agriculture industry 1.7 billion dollars"
- "As of January 2023, about 71% of California was in "severe drought", dropping to 46%"
- "The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared a water shortage in April to curtail water use, either by restricting outdoor watering or etc"
- "Water usage is split between 50 percent for human use, 40 percent for agriculture and 10 percent for urban use"
- "Farms went idle due to cut in water deliveries"
- "Rice field left covered with bare dirt"
- "8750 full and part time jobs were cut"
Personal:
This issue is important to me because tons of people throughout the years have basically ignored the ongoing drought, but continously leave water supplies on when not needed. I have encountered this when driving and see hoses and sprinklers left on for entire days. It's one thing if they forgot, but always doing it when being aware of the situation is really a troublesome problem. I have experienced wildfires near my house and the constant smoke and lack of water supplies that could have contributed to taking them out is just outrageous and shouldn't even be happening at all. Switching to more useful usage of water like for our health and making sure our hands aren't dirty is a much better reason.
I chose this issue because it impacted how I treat and use less of water and take less time in the shower. I also wanted to see positive changes that citizens can make in the drought issue, but also to combat the business over usage of water. I also wanted to bring up the topic of how the environment is being impacted just near our communities with possible land sink and more possible effects of not reducing our water usage. This issue has been long going for the longest time that it's something that I always thought could easily be changed. I want people to learn the ongoing effects of how farms and the environment has been affecting the foods we see in markets, but also how water is something that isn't substitutable for in terms of its benefits to humans.
Community Members affected:
Yu Chen: "Over the years I have told my kids to conserve water, but also put a limit to how much is used. It's not a hard thing to do if you teach them just how the misuse of water can stack up and can damage our future." 
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