Blue River Watershed Association

BLUE RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION'S (BRWA) BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND STAFF DO NOT BELIEVE IN CHASING MONEY, REWORKING OR WRITING NEW PROGRAMS THAT MAY BE MISALIGNED WITH MISSION SIMPLY TO ATTAIN FUNDING. THE BLUE RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION CONTINUES TO OFFER QUALITY, HANDS-ON-E-STEM (ENVIRONMENTAL, SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY, AND MATH) PROGRAMS TARGETING UNDERSERVED SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES. COVID-19 HIT MANY NONPROFITS VERY HARD, AND BRWA IS NO EXCEPTION. WHEN SCHOOLS CLOSED IN SPRING 2020, AND THEN REOPENED IN THE FALL OF THAT SAME YEAR, THEY DID NOT ALLOW OUTSIDE EDUCATORS SUCH AS BRWA TO COME INTO CLASSROOMS TO CONDUCT ENRICHMENT PROGRAMMING. THUS, FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ORGANIZATION GREATLY DIMINISHED. TEACHERS AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS STILL STRUGGLE WITH COVID DEMANDS LEAVING THEIR SCHEDULES HARRIED, WITH LITTLE TIME OR DESIRE FOR ANYTHING ELSE, EVEN IF IT'S AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE. IN PRIOR YEARS, BRWA'S EDUCATION STAFF MADE 10,000 STUDENTS ANNUALLY WITH WATER QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE FIVE-COUNTY KANSAS CITY METROPOLITAN AREA. BRWA CONTINUES WITH ITS COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM, CPR: COMMUNITIES PROTECTING RIVERS PROJECT. CPR INCLUDES WORKING WITH AN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY NEAR THE BLUE RIVER, OR ONE OF ITS TRIBUTARIES TO IDENTIFY, CLEANUP, AND REPURPOSE THREE CONTIGUOUS VACANT LOTS TO HELP REDUCE STORM WATER RUNOFF TO THE BLUE RIVER. THROUGH CPR, RESIDENTS ARE ABLE TO REPURPOSE LOTS OF BUTTERFLY RAIN GARDENS, WALKING TRAILS, ORCHARDS, AND NATURAL PLAY AREAS. AFTER THE WORK IS DONE, COMMUNITIES ENJOY CONTIGUOUS GREEN SPACE FOR SAFE AND HEALTHY PLAY, COMMUNITY GATHERINGS, FARMER'S MARKETS AND MORE. CPR PROVES TO BE A CATALYST FOR RESIDENTS WHOM HAVE NEVER PARTICIPATED IN COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS CAME OUTSIDE AND HELPED WHEN THEY WITNESSED THE EFFORTS AND PROGRESS OF THEIR NEIGHBORS. COMMUNITIES REALIZE AN UP-TICK IN HOUSING SALES, DECREASE IN VANDALISM AND DUMPING, AND LACK OF INTEREST IN PARTICIPATION. ADDITIONALLY, BRWA CONTINUED OUTREACH TO SCHOOLS WITH ITS BANNER PROGRAM, T.R.U.E. BLUE (TEACHING RIVERS IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT). IN THIS FOUR-LESSON, FOUR-DAY (ONE HOUR EACH DAY) CURRICULUM, BRWA TEACHER CERTIFIED EDUCATORS TEACH ALL FOUR LESSONS. LESSON ONE IS AN INTRODUCTION TO WATERSHEDS, STORM WATER RUNOFF, POINT AND NONPOINT POLLUTION, AND NEGATIVE HUMAN IMPACTS ON LOCAL WATERWAYS. STUDENTS LEARN PROPER SAFETY AND USE PROTOCOLS WITH THE PROFESSIONAL-LEVEL HACH WATER QUALITY TEST KITS IN LESSON TWO. LESSON THREE IS A TRIP TO THE CLOSEST RIVER OR STREAM WHERE STUDENTS CONDUCT A BATTERY OF TESTS INCLUDING TURBIDITY, AIR & WATER TEMPERATURES, PH AND CONDUCTIVITY, AND NITRATES AND PHOSPHATES, DISSOLVED OXYGEN, FECAL COLIFORM BACTERIA, AND 5-DAY BOD ARE ALSO COLLECTED. BACK IN THE CLASSROOM FOR LESSON FOUR, BRWA EDUCATORS LEAD STUDENTS WITH THE RAW DATA COLLECTED AT THE RIVER USING GRAPHS, CHARTS, AND CALCULATORS DETERMINE THE WATER QUALITY INDEX NUMBER FOR THAT RIVER, ON THAT TIME AND DAY. MOST STUDENTS REPORT THAT T.R.U.E. BLUE IS A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE, AS MANY STUDENTS HAVE NEVER BEEN TO A RIVER, OR PARTICIPATED IN SUCH HANDS-ON SCIENCE. ANOTHER POPULAR E-STESM PROGRAM OFFERED BY BRWA IS MACROS, OR MACROINVERTEBRATES. THIS TWO-LESSON CLASS IS ALSO TAUGHT IN-FULL BY BRWA EDUCATORS. IN MACROS, STUDENTS COLLECT MACROINVERTEBRATES IN NEARBY STREAMS, CREEKS, OR RIVERS. MACROINVERTEBRATES ARE THE LARVAL STAGES OF AQUATIC INSECTS AND CRUSTACEANS SUCH AS, DRAGONFLY NYMPHS, MAYFLIES, LEACHES, SNAILS, AND CRAYFISH. STUDENTS THEN IDENTIFY AND COUNT THE NUMBERS OF EACH CATEGORY. LIKE CANARIES IN A CAVE, THESE SPECIES ARE INDICATOR SPECIES AND SEND THE ALARM OF THE WATER QUALITY FOR THAT STREAM. EACH SPECIES IS RANKED AS EITHER, TOLERANT, SOMEWHAT SENSITIVE, OR SENSITIVE TO POLLUTION. SO, IF A HIGH NUMBER AND VARIETY OF SENSITIVE "BUGS" ARE COLLECTED - THE WATER QUALITY IS VERY GOOD TO EXCELLENT; AND VICE VERSA, IF A HIGH NUMBER OF TOLERANT BUGS ARE FOUND WITH EITHER NO SENSITIVE, OR ONLY A FEW SENSITIVE BUDS, THEN THE WATER QUALITY IS POOR OR VERY POOR. BRWA EDUCATION STAFF THEN DISCUSS WITH STUDENTS HOW THE POLLUTION MAY HAVE GOTTEN INTO THE WATER, AND WHAT MEASURES CAN BE TAKEN TO REMEDIATE THE POLLUTION. ECO-KIDS CLUB IS A FAVORITE AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM HELD IN WYANDOTTE COUNTY KANSAS TO UNDERSERVED ELEMENTARY STUDENTS GRADES 3RD-5TH. THIS PROGRAM, FUNDED BY CORPORATIONS AND MUNICIPAL GRANTS, IS THE MOST POPULAR AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM IN SCHOOLS IN WHICH IT IS HELD. ECO-KIDS CLUB IS 8-SESSIONS ONCE A WEEK, TWO HOURS EACH, HELD IN THE SPRING. SPONSORING CORPORATE EMPLOYEES VOLUNTEER TO COME AND ASSIST WITH AFTERNOON ACTIVITES, WHILE STUDENTS SOAK UP THE EXTRA ATTENTION AND KNOWLEDGE THEY ARE GAINING. IN THE VERY FIRST SESSION, STUDENTS DESIGN A T-SHIRT AND THEN THEY VOTE ON THE DESIGN THEY LIKE THE BEST. T-SHIRTS WITH THE WINNING DESIGN ARE HANDED OUT FOR THE STUDENTS TO WEAR EACH DAY OF THE ECO-KIDS CLUB. TOPICS INCLUDE, WATER PROPERTIES; EVERYONE NEEDS WATER (INCLUDING WILDLIFE; BUILDING A BLUEBIRD BOX); GRAPHING TRASH PICKUP; WATER CHEMISTRY; TOUR OF A WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT, ETC. PARENTS COMMENT ON HOW THEY HAVE LEARNED WHEN THEIR CHILDREN COME HOME AND REPORT ON WHAT THEY LEARNED IN ECO-KIDS CLUB!