Join us in congratulating Ahana, 1 of 3 winners of this year's EPA contest on water! Each contestant  was asked to answer the question, "How do you rely on the water on a daily basis, OR why would you consider a career in water?"

Please find Ahana's poem below!  

Our World Needs Water

For the thousands of years that humans have walked the Earth,
Water remains at the forefront of every step
I see water everywhere
My mother boiling pasta
My father watering the tomato plants in our garden
My brother making homemade lemonade for his friends
My grandmother doing the laundry
And me, an athlete, who drinks endless amounts of water daily
Sometimes infused with electrolyte powder, sometimes in the form of sticking my
tongue out in the rain,
I need water.
To survive
To train
To bathe and wash off the sweat from hustling on the field
To cleanse
For my skin, for my hair, for my teeth
For my pets,
For the animals of the world to drink up
Water is an essential part of my life and an essential part of my community
It keeps things clean, it keeps us hydrated, and it provides the nourishment our
plants & animals need to survive
We need water.
The sooner we realize how precious it is, the better.
Because only then,
Can we open our eyes to our environment, to our world, and finally see
The oceans full of plastic,
The increasing floods and droughts,
The melting glaciers,
And the pollution.
So today, I beg you: to tell your family, your friends, your neighbors, your
community
To step forward
And take accountability for our water,
To love it, to conserve it, to fight for it
Because whether you're a dancer, a bookworm, a gamer, or an athlete like me,
The truth is,
Our world needs water