Students Gain Awareness for Water Sustainability and Management

A $2 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture will fund hands-on water management internships for 200 underrepresented students in the California State University system, including students from Cal State San Bernardino, and from California Community College campuses. The grant renews the USDA’s commitment to support the Watershed Management Internship Program, which is administered by the CSU’s Water Resources and Policy Initiatives consortium. The program received its first $2 million four-year grant from the USDA in 2012. “The USDA grant funding will provide students with an opportunity to learn water management techniques essential to sustain California’s water supply during our current drought and well into the future,” said WRPI director Boykin Witherspoon III, who is also the coordinator of Cal State San Bernardino’s Water Resources Institute. “It will also provide underserved students with paid internships, which are invaluable to student success and employment opportunities.” To maintain efficiency in the grant allocations, WRI will administer the internship awards to the CSU campuses. Beginning January 2016, the grant will fund 50 paid internships a year for four years at CSU and community college campuses. The program specifically targets Latino students at the CSU’s 18 Hispanic Serving Institution—campuses with an undergraduate Latino student enrollment of at least 25 percent. In addition to help solve California’s water problems, the grant also aims to improve retention and graduation outcomes for underrepresented students at the CSU’s HSIs. The student interns will develop academic pathways to join the next generation of employed water professionals. “It’s encouraging to see federal support for a program that empowers San Bernardino County students and creates opportunities for our young people to play a role in the Inland Empire economy,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, 31st Congressional District. Internships range from assisting CSU professors with watershed research to working at the USDA or another agency that manages community water supplies. In addition, interns will get advice on how to land a USDA job after graduation by ensuring they take the required courses to immediately apply for entry-level positions at the USDA and its agencies. Through WRPI, the CSU is working to solve California’s long-term water challenges including the state’s ongoing drought. The group leverages the system’s 250 water experts into an important resource for addressing California’s complex water issues. “What is most impactful about this effort,” said Christina Rodriguez, internship manager for the Water Resources Institute at CSUSB, ‘is that we are exposing young residents of this state to the problems associated with a scarce water supply early in their careers. This helps them to understand their role in the situation and how they can contribute to making California more livable -- beyond taking a shorter shower.” For more information about the Watershed Management Internship Program, call the CSUSB Water Resources Institute at (909) 537-7681.