10th Annual Drinking Water Festival Held in Madison County

By Kathy Walker, District Administrative Coordinator, SWCD/NRCS, Huntsville, AL

Madison County SWCD and NRCS helped sponsor the 10th annual Drinking Water Festival at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) campus on May 8-9, 2007. Over 1,850 fourth graders from 30 schools participated in the two-day event.

The Drinking Water Festival gives students a hands-on education on the importance of water quality and quantity in an interactive, fun setting. Each student rotated between three different activities that included:

• Watershed in a Box where students learned how runoff and non-point source pollution affects them.
• Wetland Metaphors where students learned how wetlands work, how they keep animals safe, and why wetlands are so important.
• Filtration where students learned about what types of pollutants can and cannot be removed from the water.
• Well in a Cup where students built a well, found out how wells work, and discovered how contamination can occur.
• Cave Shrimp where students played a game to see just how human activities affect the rest of the environment.

Steve Trash, a World Class Eco-Entertainer, who has presented his program of environmental awareness at the festival for 8 out of 10 years, once again entertained the students with cool magic tricks and ways to “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.” The students were totally involved in his presentation. In 2006, Steve received a national award for his program.

This year’s festival success is due to the more than 100 volunteers who helped keep the festival running smoothly and the advisory committee members for all their hard work and dedication. Many of the original 1997 advisory committee members are still serving every year. There are 23 members from 14 different agencies on the advisory committee.

Hannah Cobble, a 4th grade student at New Hope Elementary, won the logo contest with her drawing depicting the theme “Water, Making Every Drop Count.” Her design was featured on the festival t-shirts. Hannah and her teacher, Ms. Munzy, each won a $100 savings bond.

In honor of the 10th annual water festival, Ms. Enid Propst of ADEM presented the advisory committee with a “top of the line” E-3100 Series Groundwater Model Simulator Kit that will be used for educational purposes in Madison County.

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