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October Science Cafe

October 22, 2011

Come to KNME's October Science Café, view a clip from Bag It, then join in a discussion with Albuquerque BioPark Aquarium Manager, Holly Casman, to learn how marine debris poses a threat to marine life and human health and what we can do to keep our oceans safe. Download PDF »

 

Children's Water Festival
Helps Students Answer the Big Water Questions

October 20-21, 2011

ALBUQUERQUE – The Duke of Waste-A-Lot and Yvette the Toilette will be just two of the new additions to this year's Children's Water Festival, the Water Authority's annual education event for Albuquerque fourth graders.

The event, scheduled for Oct. 20 and 21 at the Albuquerque Convention Center, will also feature 24 different hands-on water activities. These include a brand new "Pollution Detective" activity and "Go With the Flow," an introduction to hydrological engineering. Whether it's learning about "indicator species" or how to turn river water into drinking water, an important outcome for the event is that students and teachers learn what they can personally do to conserve water and keep source water clean. Read more »

 

NEWS RELEASE

March 28, 2011

Media Contact:
Patti Watson – 505-245-3134, 269-9691
pattiw@cooneywatson.com

MID RIO GRANDE STORMWATER QUALITY TEAM CO-SPONSORS INNOVATIVE RIVERXCHANGE EDUCATION PROJECT INVOLVING OVER 2,000 FIFTH GRADERS FROM AROUND THE U.S. AND THE WORLD

Albuquerque, NM— The Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team (MGRSQT) a multi-agency group dedicated to educating children, adults and businesses on how they can reduce stormwater pollution to better “Keep the Rio Grand!”, this year is sponsoring 10 local elementary classrooms to participate in the RiverXchange. RiverXchange is an innovative, year-long project developed in New Mexico which educates fifth graders on river water issues and links them with other fifth-graders from throughout the world through interactive class wikis (social networks).

Vernon Hershberger, MRGSQT chair and environmental health manager at the University of New Mexico, said the group views the program as “A unique, effective way to educate students on stormwater issues and watershed effects on the Rio Grande. The MRGSQT wants students the public to be educated on what we all can do to help ‘Keep the Rio Grand!’ our motto.”  He continued, “The interactive format allows students to discover shared water quality issues as well as how the Middle Rio Grande’s semi-arid watershed varies from those in other parts of the United States, Canada and even Europe.”

River Xchange partners Albuquerque classes with classes in nine states, including Oregon, Massachusetts, Washington, Kentucky, Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina; two Canadian provinces, including Calgary and Manitoba; and  a U.S. military base school in Aviano, Italy. The project uses the local river, the Rio Grande, as a tool to teach about major water resource issues. New this year is a hands-on, math-based activity called “Don’t Trash Our Rio” which includes information about our area’s stormwater drainage network, which contains approximately 722 miles of storm pipes, 33 miles of lined channels, 18 miles of unlined arroyos, 12,300 storm manholes, and 16,100 storm inlets.

Teachers are trained on how to implement the curriculum and how to manage information on their private class wiki. All classes follow the curriculum at approximately the same time during the school year, while students communicate with their pen pals in other classes across the country or across the globe.

With a total of 45 New Mexico classes and 45 partner classes involved, RiverXchange reached more than 2,000 fifth graders this year, with all components of the project provided free of charge to New Mexico teachers. Participating schools included:

 “The RiverXchange program provides unparalleled opportunities to educate school-aged children, who carry the environmental stewardship message home to their families,” said guest speaker Steve Glass of Bernalillo County Public Works. “In addition, this program helps create a lifelong awareness of the importance of protecting our environment, our watershed and the Rio Grande.”

RiverXchange also connects teachers with guest speakers and organizes/funds field trips to watershed and water resources locations. Field trips are scheduled from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and involve sponsors as well as participating classes. The next field trip is scheduled Friday, April 15 at Sanchez Farms in Bernalillo County. Sanchez Farms is a 14-acre tract of land that serves as a drainage retention basin for stormwater run-off from Isleta Boulevard. Anunciation Catholic School will be the participating class.

Additional field trips are scheduled:
April 28 - Puesta del Sol Elementary School at Willow Creek (Rio Rancho)
April 29 – John Baker Elementary School at Sanchez Farms (Albuquerque)
April 29 - Sandia Vista Elementary School at Willow Creek (Rio Rancho)
May 5 - Collet Park Elementary School at Tingley Beach (Albuquerque)
May 6 – North Star Elementary School at Sanchez Farms (Albuquerque)
May 12 – Cochiti Elementary School at Tingley Beach (Albuquerque)
May 13 – Lew Wallace Elementary School at Sanchez Farms (Albuquerque)
TBD: Additional field trips for Hawthorne Elementary School and Holy Ghost Catholic School,

RiverXchange is a project of Experiential EE, LLC, www.experientialee.com. For more information about RiverXchange, visit www.riverxchange.com. To become a guest speaker or involve a school, contact Amy White, Project Manager, at amelia87102@yahoo.com or 505-235-8342.

Other RiverXchange sponsors include the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Southern Sandoval County Arroyo and Flood Control Authority and Santa Fe County.  More than a dozen organizations also provide in-kind contributions such as classroom guest speakers and volunteer field trip documents.

The Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team was formed in 2004 to cooperatively educate and reach out to residents about how they can reduce stormwater pollution to help “Keep the Rio Grand!” The team includes the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority, Bernalillo County, the City of Albuquerque, the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District, the Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority, the University of New Mexico and the New Mexico Department of Transportation. More information is available at www.keeptheriogrand.com.              

 

 

January 28, 2011

Office of the State Engineer Assists With RiverXchange
Project in Local Schools

RiverXchange is an innovative, year-long water resources project ...
that OSE staff participated in for the first time in 2011. Elementary school students learned about water rights thanks to WRAP employees. Water Rights Specialist Rick Lusher, District VI-Santa Fe, and Rio Gallinas Water Master Luis Aguirre visited two classes at each of Albuquerque's Hawthorne and John Baker Elementary Schools on January 18 to teach students about water rights.

Using a gallon of water and cups, the students modeled the difference between Riparian Water Rights used in the eastern US, and Prior Appropriation Water Rights used in the West. In the photo above, Rick introduced a few "water right words" and used the map to show regional differences in precipitation and how that affects water rights. The presenters experienced full participation by the students during the activity. By asking a few follow-up questions, it was clear to them that most of the students could repeat the concepts covered during each session. Teachers seemed appreciative of their efforts to share with their classes the concepts of having a water right.

Water Rights Specialist Jennifer Allred of District I-Albuquerque worked with two classes. "They were more than happy to participate in the water activity. We discussed the effects of too much water in parts of the world, as well as areas that chronically lack water, and how that impacts people. The actual use of water in the activity, and seeing the lack of water, was interesting to them. They talked about how people who have water need to share," said Jennifer.

Middle Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team, Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority, US Bureau of Reclamation, and Santa Fe County provided funding to enable 45 fifth grade classes from Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe County to participate. Experiential EE, LLC, raised the funds and coordinated all aspects of this project. The New Mexico Water Conservation Alliance is their fiscal partner. Project Manager Amy White is shown at left conducting a training session of the water modeling activity with Rick, Luis, and Water Rights Specialist Doug Crosby, District I-Albuquerque.

Amy was also on hand to assist Luis as he taught two water rights classes to students at Turquoise Trail Elementary School, south of Santa Fe. "Both of the teachers and their students were interested and participated in the topic of water rights. It was great to see their smiles and hear their questions and comments. I enjoyed volunteering for this project and would recommend that we do it more often," said Luis.

Doug noted some interesting attitudes from his students while conducting the shortage-sharing exercise in his classes. When the students drew the card to take five cups of water, the highest quantity allowed for flood irrigation, they acted like a king or queen with all the wealth. Then, as the game progressed and the pitcher/aquifer went dry and some students had to go without water for their needs, the water king/queen got embarrassed that they had so much more water than the other water users. In one exercise, Doug polluted the water (with instant coffee) before everybody had what they needed. One boy, who was going to hypothetically re-open "The Beach Waterpark" decided he didn't want to deal with the liability of using the dirty water. He opted to give his water back and keep the Waterpark closed.

For more information on River Xchange, visit www.waterfestnm.com.

Developed by Experiential EE, LLC four years ago, RiverXchange partners with
fifth grade classes in New Mexico with fourth or fifth grade classes throughout
the US or world as "high tech pen pals." Together, students learn about their own
local water issues and describe what they are learning on private wiki websites. A
fi eld trip to the local river, tributary or water body is required for all participating
classes. Th e project is free of charge for New Mexico teachers. It runs throughout
the school year and includes wiki website training, field trip and bus coordination,
and guest speaker coordination (which is where OSE came in). Guest speakers
visit the classroom to do hands-on activities/presentations of 45-60 minutes relating
to Unit 1: Understanding a Watershed, Unit 2: Water in Our Society, and Unit
3: River Ecosystem.

New Mexico State Engineer: John D'Antonio, PE
Produced by Planning & Communication Division
Editor: Karin Stangl, APR, Director
Public Relations Specialist: Julie Maas

April 8, 2010

MID RIO GRANDE STORMWATER QUALITY TEAM ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP
FOR ADDITIONAL MONITORING OF RIO GRANDE AND EDUCATION ON WATER QUALITY

ALBUQUERQUE/RIO RANCHO – The Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team (MRGSQT), a multi-agency coalition dedicated to educating individuals and businesses on preventing stormwater pollution in order to protect and improve the quality of the Rio Grande, has partnered with the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP) to monitor four sites on the Rio Grande and to provide educational activities on water quality relating to watershed management in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.

The monitoring sites will be located along the Rio Grande in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties adjacent to existing BEMP sites, according to Daniel Shaw, BEMP Co-Director. He said the sites would probably be at the U.S. 550 Bridge in Bernalillo, the Alameda and Montano Bridges within Albuquerque, and south of the Tijeras Arroyo and north of Isleta Pueblo in Albuquerque. Weekly monitoring will measure levels of the bacteria known as Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the river. Although this bacteria occurs naturally in the Rio Grande , its levels can also be temporarily elevated after a storm if animal wastes are washed into the river. For example, storm sewers in the Albuquerque and Rio Rancho areas can potentially carry

E. coli from rain contact with wastes from domestic animals, wildlife, birds, pets and even humans into the Rio Grande.

“As our area grows, more waste is created. For example, we know that there are at least 43,000 licensed dogs in the City of Albuquerque alone that create more than 20 tons of dog waste a day. That waste can end up in the river if it's left in a yard or not disposed of properly in household trash containers,” explained Roland Penttila, an MRGSQT member and storm drain design manager for the City of Albuquerque.

Consistent monitoring of the Rio Grande for E. coli will help give the MRGSQT more reliable data on the bacterial pollutants that may be reaching the river through our area's stormwater system, which contains approximately 16,100 storm inlets leading to 722 miles of storm pipes which lead to the Rio Grande.

Water samples will be collected weekly by a BEMP team trained and supervised by experts at the University of New Mexico. Students from various elementary, middle or high schools will learn hands-on as they participate on the BEMP teams. The BEMP program will provide education on stormwater quality and how it affects the river's ecosystem to several thousand students in grades K-12.

Vern Hershberger, MRGSQT chair and environmental health manager at the University of New Mexico, believes teaming with BEMP is a “great fit” with the public education and outreach goals the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has for MRGSQT members. “Keep the Rio Grand is the MRGSQT's motto. We need everyone's help and a new awareness if we are to succeed in preventing pollution from entering our stormwater system. We're excited to be working with such a well-established BEMP program. We look forward to the data we'll receive as well as the opportunity for local students to learn about the importance of stormwater quality,” Hershberger said.

The Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP) is a joint project of the University of New Mexico 's Biology Department (UNM) and the Black Institute for Environmental Studies at Bosque School . Since 1996, BEMP has collaborated with kindergarten through 12th grade students from across New Mexico and their teachers to track long-term change in the Middle Rio Grande Bosque. BEMP reports are available at www.bosqueschool.org/BEMP .

The Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team was formed as a multi-agency coalition in 2004 to educate and reach out to residents about how they can reduce stormwater pollution to help “Keep the Rio Grand.” The team includes the Al buquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA), Bernalillo County, the City of Albuquerque, the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District, the Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority (SSCAFCA), the University of New Mexico and the New Mexico Department of Transportation. More information about the Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team is available at www.keeptheriogrande.com .

###

 

Op-Ed Piece: January 6, 2010  

Let's Work Together to Keep the Rio Grand!

By: Vernon Hershberger, University of New Mexico
Jerry Lovato and Kevin Daggett, Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority
Steve n Glass, Bernalillo County Public Works Division
Roland Penttila and Kathy Verhage, City of Albuquerque
Mark Murphy, Cuidad Soil and Water Conservation District
Kathy Trujillo and Reza Afaghpour , New Mexico Department of Transportation
David Stoliker and Trevor Alsop, Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority
(All members of the Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team)

Our stormwater system is a vital part of keeping our area flood-free and helping recharge the Rio Grande, yet most of us drive by this series of drains, inlets and concrete-lined arroyos without ever giving them a second thought.

The Bernalillo and Sandoval County metropolitan area covers a watershed of more than 250 square miles, almost all of it sloping toward the Rio Grande . During a typical summer rain storm, water races from the Sandia Crest to the Rio Grande , a drop of almost a mile. An elaborate storm drainage system is needed to prevent flooding of homes and streets. This storm drainage system is completely separate from the sanitary sewer system that serves the bathrooms inside your home or business.

Within Al buquerque 's 190 square miles alone, there are approximately 16,100 storm inlets leading to 722 miles of storm pipes. Billions of gallons of stormwater flow through this system every year, unfortunately carrying pet waste, garbage, sediment, chemicals and trash into the Rio Grande , with virtually no treatment. During an intense rain event, a piece of trash thrown into the street on Tramway can end up in the river in less than an hour! That is why protecting the quality of our stormwater should be a concern for everyone in our watershed, regardless of how close he or she lives to the Rio Grande .

The Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team was formed as a multi-agency coalition in 2004 to educate residents about how they can reduce stormwater pollution to help “Keep the Rio Grand” – our motto. The team includes the Al buquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA), Bernalillo County , the City of Al buquerque , the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District, the Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority (SSCAFCA), the University of New Mexico and the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

We have made significant strides in the past five years, but there is still a great deal to be done. At a few locations, expensive filtration systems are capturing a small portion of the pollutants in stormwater flowing off of our watershed, such as floating debris and sinking sediments. However, these filtration systems cannot remove serious pollutants like E.coli bacteria, automotive fluids or hazardous chemicals. Preventing pollution from entering the stormwater system in the first place is far more efficient and costs less than trying to extract pollution from stormwater before it reaches the Rio Grande .

The solution lies with each of us and starts at home. Here are 10 things you can do to help keep our stormwater clean:

1. Pick up pet waste in a bag, seal it and dispose of it properly by placing it in your household trash.

2. Fix your cars so they do not leak oil or other fluids. Wash your cars at a car wash or on your lawn so the dirty, soapy water doesn't flow into nearby storm drains.

3. Mulch or compost leaves and grass clippings to keep them out of the gutter. Don't sweep or hose them into the street.

4. Follow manufacturer's recommendations about the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Don't apply them to your lawn before a heavy rain. If chemicals fall onto driveways or sidewalks, sweep them up instead of hosing them away.

5. Turn your gutter downspouts away from hard surfaces and toward bushes, grass or trees to fill low spots in your yard or install rain barrels. Reduce runoff whenever possible.

6. Don't litter. The streets belong to all of us, not just you. Cigarette butts, plastic bags, fast food containers, and packing materials such as Styrofoam ® peanuts are not biodegradable.

7. Keep lawn and household chemicals tightly sealed and in a place where rain cannot reach them.

8. Dispose of old or unwanted chemicals and paint at Albuquerque 's household hazardous waste collection site at 6133 Edith NE. There is no charge for this service. Call 345-1650 for hours of operation.

9. Never put anything in a storm drain. Remember the phrase, “Nothing but rain down the drain.”

10. If you have a septic system, have it pumped out and emptied every 3-5 years. It it's an older system, be sure it can still handle the volume needed. And, never put chemicals down your septic system.

Through the combined efforts of Al buquerque and Rio Rancho residents and the Mid Rio Grande Stormwater Quality Team, we can have an efficient and effective stormwater system and a clean river for generations to come. Working together, we can “Keep the Rio Grand!”