Colorado River Basin - Water Education

The Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board believes that community outreach and environmental education is an important part of achieving our mission. Several programs involving water education have been successfully facilitated, including; Project WET, Citizen's Water Quality Monitoring and classroom visits.

The goal of Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) is to promote the awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of California's water resources. This seminar is fun, hands-on, action-packed, and informative. WET is for anyone interested in natural resources and environmental education and is especially useful for public and private school teachers in grades K-12. Project WET is perfect for integrating science and math. The seminar offers educators exciting new activities to use in teaching science, math, language arts, social studies, and environmental studies. Participants will be trained in the basics of how to use Project WET materials as well as in facilitation and organizational skills. Each seminar participant will receive a copy of the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Grade Book. California Project WET is a project of the Water Education Foundation and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region.

Water Quality Monitoring by Citizens offers the opportunity to involve the public and increase understanding of the roles of citizens and government agencies in protecting the State's waters. Citizen participation is instrumental to protect lakes, streams, and coastal ocean waters in your community. Citizen monitors collect water quality data, evaluate fish habitat, perform bird counts, and document watershed health. Training workshops are available. To read more about Citizen Water Quality Monitoring and/or California's Clean Water Team please see http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/cwt_volunteer.shtml.

Visiting a classroom and talking directly with students provides an excellent opportunity for raising awareness of local water quality issues. The EnviroScape Watershed Model is a colorful and visual tool that we use to incorporate hands-on learning in the classroom that makes environmental issues easy to understand.

For further information on community outreach and environmental education events please see the Regional Board's Water Events Calendar or contact Sheila Ault at (760) 776-8960.

( Updated 7/12/05 )