N.C. State is beating UNC-Chapel Hill in the water conservation challenge between the two schools’ residence halls.

The challenge measures the amount of water conserved in each campuses residence halls.

Conservation totals are based on last year’s water usage.

According to Student Body President Bobby Mills, students living in NCSU’s residence halls currently only use 29 gallons of water per day, while students at UNC use 40 gallons of water per day.

“It’s exciting that we’re beating UNC — that just means we are still better than them,” Sophia Thach, a freshman in biomedical engineering, said. “But I wish the University would publicize our monthly progress during the challenge to motivate everyone to conserve even more.”

The challenge was started in response to the drought that continues across the Southeast.

According to a Nov. 23 press release from the governor’s office, 56 of North Carolina’s 100 counties are experiencing exceptional drought and 5.36 million North Carolina residents are currently under water use restrictions.

Chancellor James Oblinger issued the water conservation challenge to UNC before the rivalry football game on Nov. 10.

The challenge began on Nov. 10 and will run through Feb. 20, the day of the NCSU-UNC basketball game.

“I think the challenge is a great idea,” Thach said. “N.C. State uses the most water of any university in North Carolina [due to its population size] and it’s important that we conserve this precious resource.”

According to Mills, a junior in political science, the purpose of the challenge is to raise student’s awareness of the water shortage through a competition between the rival schools.

“The governor called for North Carolina citizens to cut their consumption of water by 50 percent and we hope that this competition encourages students to do that,” Mills said. “Also, while the challenge is strictly for the goal of conservation, it brings about a feeling of pride when we have an opportunity to beat Chapel Hill.”

According to Mills, the NCSU Facilities Department has installed water-saving devices on the sinks and showers in the residence halls to help in the conservation.

But some students think that the University should take more steps to conserve water.

“The University should stop watering the grounds during the drought,” Zhara Al-Nadaf, a freshman in international studies, said. “If homeowners can’t water their yard, then neither should the University.”

According to a flyer promoting the challenge posted in Sullivan Hall, some steps that students can take to reduce their water consumption include reporting leaks, taking shorter showers, turning off water when they brush their teeth and washing only full loads of clothes.

“I try to do my part and conserve water by turning off the water when I brush my teeth,” Chelsey Dyer, a freshman in biology, said. Ã’But I didn’t know that this challenge was going on. The challenge is a good thing for everyone, but if it isn’t advertised, people won’t know about the situation.”

Mills said students will be able to track the progress of the challenge through the NCSU Facilities Web site. The first results of the challenge should be available in a couple of weeks.