Professor Jessica Cattelino and doctoral candidate Kelsey Kim are pictured. In their presentation, the panelists discussed how current water conservation campaigns fail to address the roles gender, immigration and class play in shaping household water use. (Selin Filiz/Daily Bruin)
Gender and Water Research featured in The Diamondback

Gender and Water Research featured in The Diamondback

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In a March panel hosted by UCLA’s Graduate Student Water Resources Group, Associate Professor Jessica Cattelino and graduate student Kelsey Kim shared findings from their ethnographic study on household water use in Los Angeles, highlighting the critical but often overlooked role gender plays in water conservation practices. The event, held at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, emphasized the need for multidisciplinary approaches to environmental justice and sustainable resource use.

The presentation drew from the recently released report, Gender and Everyday Household Water Use in Los Angeles, a project of Gender and Water, one of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women|Streisand Center’s research areas. This initiative investigates how gender—as it intersects with race and class—shapes patterns of residential water use, especially in a city where many conservation efforts happen in the home. The report is part of UCLA’s Sustainable LA Grand Challenges.

Using “water diaries” and in-depth interviews, Cattelino and Kim found that women disproportionately carry the burden of water-saving tasks in the home—labor that is often unpaid and undervalued. Their work underscores the importance of culturally informed and gender-aware approaches to water policy, especially when promoting sustainable practices like greywater reuse.

The research also challenges assumptions about immigrant communities, showing that many bring resourceful, conservation-minded practices shaped by historical and cultural experience. For example, one Korean grandmother used water from rinsing vegetables to nourish plants, a habit rooted in growing up during the Korean War.

By centering gender in water policy discussions, the Gender and Water initiative aims to develop equitable, culturally acceptable strategies for reducing residential water use and increasing sustainability across Los Angeles.

Photo caption: Professor Jessica Cattelino and doctoral candidate Kelsey Kim are pictured. In their presentation, the panelists discussed how current water conservation campaigns fail to address the roles gender, immigration and class play in shaping household water use. (Selin Filiz/Daily Bruin)