In a partnership with the My Clean Water Act organization, Chapman University is participating in its year-long, nationwide celebration of water conservation and sustainability with a World Water Day Thursday, March 22.

The day-long occasion will feature a variety of events—both educational and entertaining—to celebrate the 40thanniversary of the water-sustaining legislation.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this global celebration and acknowledgment of the most important resource on our planet and the anniversary of the legislation recognizing that,” said Catherine Clark, Ph.D., associate dean and professor, with  Chapman’s Schmid College of Science and Technology. “California’s coastal ocean waters have changed and improved in the 40 years since the legislation was enacted – but we need to keep up the message of its importance.”

The Chapman event begins at 1 p.m. with a talk by Karen Setty of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. An on-campus Water Fair will feature booths, handouts, activities and water-related vendors from 2 to 5 p.m. A reception will follow at 5:30 p.m. The day’s events will close with a screening at 6:45 p.m. of Running Dry – Beyond the Brink and a post-panel discussion featuring director Jim Thebaut; Dr. William Cooper, Director of the Urban Water Research Center at UCI; Paul Cook, General Manager of the Irvine Ranch Water District; and Dr. Clark.

A live online broadcast of the movie screening and panel discussion will be available on www.facebook.com/MyCleanWaterAct.  Submit your questions to the panel @MyCleanWaterAct or on the My Clean Water Act Facebook page and participate in real-time Q&A.