GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX)- Grand Valley residents may have an idea of how they irrigate water.

“It’s a canal that comes off of the Mesa, and it pretty much goes into watering the grass and stuff like that,” New Resident Josh Taft explains, “There’s actually a pump that comes off of it and it goes into the sprinkler system.”

The big idea is how someone’s irrigation and conserving water impacts the drought. Public water providers take the Drought Response Information Project up a notch with its new scavenger hunt.

“Low tides and muddy ripples in the Colorado River are just one example of what can happen during an exceptional drought,” Cora Dickey reports, “D.R.I.P’s scavenger hunt helps to educate residence and how they can conserve and maximize every drop of water in the capacity.”

Ute Water officials express how the Colorado River indicates current drought conditions, especially with slides from Glenwood Canyon. The scavenger hunt shares five water conservation tips and resources people can apply at home and work.

What organizers want the public to understand is that wasting water affects everything.

“Drought can really impact how much fun we had the water availability,” Ute Water External Affairs Specialist Andrea Lopez mentions, “There’s different sections that are almost dry in the river, so you can’t do certain recreational activities when we have such low flows.”

The five-part scavenger hunt can be done in four parts of the Colorado Riverfront Trail (the Palisade Riverbend area, the Clifton Nature Park section, through Las Colonias Park, and Blue Herron Trail). On top of learning more about saving water, participants have a chance at a special prize in September.

With each scavenger hunt clue, scanned by a QR code, participants can enter with their phones to win prizes that will help the home save water like a low-flow toilet, a rain barrel kit, or a landscape consultation with CSU Extension Tri River Area. Prizes will be chosen at random from the submissions entered over the summer.

The Drought Response Information Project comprised of the City of Grand Junction, Clifton Water District, Colorado State University Tri River Area Extension, the National Weather Service, the Town of Palisade, and Ute Water Conservancy District.