Dave Rountry, Water Cleanup Coordinator, Wash. State Dept. of Ecology
$15,000 given to enhance environmental education in the Chehalis and Grays Harbor watersheds
Educational Service District 113 is getting $15,000 from the Department of Ecology to expand environmental learning for the benefit of the Chehalis and Grays Harbor watersheds. The money comes from Ecology's coastal protection grant fund which fosters water quality improvements in local watersheds. The grant will help pay for teacher training on environmental monitoring this fall and winter. Teachers and their students will then launch water quality monitoring projects in the spring, and receive ongoing support from the project partners during the school year. Upper elementary, middle school, high school and community college students will learn real applications for science by monitoring in their local watershed.
Project links interests of many partnerships
This project builds on previous work by the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium (CBEC), (including Educational Service District 113 and its 26 school districts), to enhance environmental education and water monitoring in the Chehalis and Grays Harbor watersheds. Other partners in the project include the Governor's Council on Environmental Education, South Sound GREEN, the Department of Ecology, and the Weyerhaeuser Company Pulp/Paper mill in Cosmopolis.
The main goal of the project is to increase local voluntary monitoring of the Chehalis River system. Project partners hope this will encourage more informed and effective conservation or cleanup actions along with more local participation in the Chehalis basin. Another goal is to engage students in learning real, applied science. Studies have shown that using the environment as a theme to integrate studies of science, social studies, language and art can really excite students to learn, especially when it applies to the community around them.
The project also directly supports the watershed planning goals of the Chehalis Basin Partnership. Because this project connects with the interests of many partnerships throughout the basin, it will help local resource managers and agencies make informed choices about conservation and cleanup.
Citizens, industries and agencies are writing a plan for cleanup of fecal coliform, dissolved oxygen, and temperature impairments on streams and rivers throughout the basin. This project will help students and citizens experience first-hand the condition of water quality in their own watershed.
For many, to understand the Chehalis watershed is to love it, and people will work to protect what they love.
Basin-wide data accessible
Data gathered by students and volunteers will help paint a picture of the health of the river. The information will pave the way for improvements in water quality and successful strategies for watershed improvement. The data will be compiled and stored on the Watch Over Washington and University of Washington Nature Mapping water website at http://www.fish.washington.edu/naturemapping/.
A Chehalis Basin webpage is in the works to show the information in an easily accessible format for anyone interested in the health of this watershed. Watch for future articles on the progress of this project and the new website address.
If you have questions about the project, or would like to get involved, please contact Rhonda Hunter at the Department of Ecology, 360-407-6147.
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