Speaking Out About Water

Lakes and streams provide places for people to enjoy God’s beautiful creation. Sometimes we have to speak out to protect them! My friend Willow is doing that. She is sticking her neck out on behalf of a reservoir. I admire that in a person. How about you? What do you stick your neck out for?

Willow Latham Photo: Steve Latham

A sophomore in high school, 15-year-old Willow Latham is determined to save an abandoned reservoir in New Jersey. The reservoir, a place for storing water for people’s use, was built in the 1870s. Jersey City Reservoir No. 3 was constructed on bedrock. No longer used to store water for drinking, it was open on Saturdays in the summer for tours and kayaking. Now some people want to fill it in, pave over it, and build a ballpark.

As Willow describes it, “Rain water collected in it and trees grew around it. It became a beautiful place, one of the few where people can kayak and swim. Jersey City doesn’t have anything like it. It’s an incredible resource. I can’t imagine why they want to fill it up.”

Willow is part of a group that held demonstrations and rallies when the people were denied access to the reservoir last summer. “If only people can see what a beautiful place it is,” she pleads.

When she was younger, Willow attended a wilderness camp. There she discovered the importance of water for all living things. Now she is secretary of her school’s Protecting Habitat, Animals, and Trees (PHAT) Club. They are also working to stop the use of Styrofoam at her school. She has dreams of changing her community, city, country, and the world.

“When I was in elementary school,” Willow says, “I often felt powerless. But now I know dedicated young people can do things to help change the world. We take water for granted in this country and don’t realize what a precious thing it is for much of the world. It’s great that Church World Service works to provide people with access to safe, clean water to drink overseas, and educates people here who do have access to water about what they can to do to help those who don’t. We all need to get involved! One way I know I can help is to participate in my local CROP Walk.”