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Highlighted Program- The W.E.T. Project For Ferry Co. and the East Half of the Colville Reservation, Washington

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Link to Secchi Dip-In websiteLink to National Water Monitoring Day InformationLink to Volunteer E. coli Monitoirn gProject website

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This photo shows Karen Honeycutt of the U.S. Forest Service electro-shocking the stream to determine what fish lived there with Project W.E.T. students Outcomes
The Educational Stream Monitoring component of the Water Education and Training (W.E.T.) Project:

  • Conducted stream monitoring activities with two classes in the spring of 2002 (their first season) and four classes in the fall of 2002.
  • Shared the information they collected with their communities through student-generated news articles and displays featured at local businesses.
  • Contributed to the education of the Ferry County and Colville Reservation under-served communities on water quality issues.

Background
This photo shows students in the Water Education and Training Project of Ferry County, Washington and the eastern half of the Colville Reservation taking width, distance, depth and direction measurements.The Water Education and Training (W.E.T.) Project in Ferry County and the eastern part of Colville Reservation of Washington started in 1999, under USDA Cooperative Extension Water Quality Funding. The program received additional funding to continue this excellent project for 3 years under USDA 406. In cooperation with Washington State University, this program established and expanded an Extension Water Quality Program that is addressing educational needs and empowering volunteers of this previously under-served area.

In March 2002, the educational stream monitoring component of the W.E.T. Project began. Carolyn Blake, Project Coordinator, invited representatives from Echo Bay Minerals and the Republic District of the Colville National Forest to partner in educational stream monitoring activities.

For the first season, in May 2002, Karen Honeycutt of the US Forest Service electro-shocked the stream to inventory fish in the stream (see photo at top). Echo Bay Minerals provided boots, pizza, and an overview of how their mining and milling operations monitor and protect area ground and surface water to two classrooms of 7th graders. Dick Beers, treasurer of Curlew Lake Association (W.E.T. Project Partner) assisted youth in collecting and identifying benthic macroinvertebrates. W.E.T. Project stream monitoring programs involve one volunteer for every four students to insure safety and success. It's a toss up as to who has the most fun - the students or the volunteers!

Following the events, partners offered to expand the program to include another school district's classes. Four classes from Curlew and Republic schools completed stream monitoring activities in fall of 2002. Before their trip to the creek, students practiced the learned skills needed to collect distance, direction, width, and depth measurements, collect and identify benthic macroinvertebrates, graph non-floristic vegetation surveys, and record stream features effecting fish habitat. Scale maps created from measurements taken were used to record locations of surveys. Students shared the information they collected with their communities through news articles and displays featured at local businesses.


A summary of this Project W.E.T. program was recently included in the Indian Ag Link, a newsletter that is published quarterly by the Intertribal Agriculture Council that discusses Indian agricultural activities. We've posted a pdf file (1.4 MB) of the write-up for you to learn more about the program.


The Water Education and Training (W.E.T.) Project Coordinator: Carolyn Blake, blakec@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu, 509-775-5235

To view other highlighted programs, visit our highlighted program archives.

Updated Wednesday, 07-Nov-2007 12:59:06 CST

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