Special Projects
Water Conservation Grant
How many ways can you conserve water in your home?
That was the question asked of the children participating in the Valencia County Boys and Girls Club after-school program at Belen’s Jaramillo Elementary School. They learned the answer during a four-week water conservation education program presented each Tuesday by New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service’s Valencia County staff.
During the program the youth learned such topics as how New Mexico uses its water, how irrigation has changed over the years, how water is used residentially and ways to conserve it wisely.
The group leaders followed the “Rio! The Water Detective” curriculum that was developed by the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. The curriculum included a booklet of weekly learning activities and a board game called "Aquifer Game". Students took these home to enjoy and teach other family members ways to conserve water.
Valencia County Extension Service staff presented the hands-on learning experience to students at Belen’s Dennis Chavez Elementary School and Los Lunas’ Katherine Gallegos Elementary School after-school programs during March, April and May 2007.
The program was funded by a grant from the Rio Grande Basin Initiative, which set aside $50,000 of its federal funding for Extension educational programs along the Rio Grande corridor, of which the Valencia County Extension Service received $5,000 that provided for materials and additional temporary staff to present the lessons.
The Rio Grande Basin Initiative is a program jointly run by NMSU and Texas A&M University, which received the 2007 U.S. Department of Agriculture Integrated Water Programs Team Award. The program receives federal funds to conduct targeted research and Extension activities to help agriculture producers, urban landscapers and irrigation districts achieve needed conservation. The Rio Grande Basin Initiative divides its funding into smaller projects that are all directly related to water conservation and irrigation efficiency.
The final day of the after-school program was a splashing success as students watched water flow through the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District’s Rolling Rivers traveling exhibit. “The Rolling River is a working model of a watershed, mounted on a trailer, that is transported to schools and special events,” said Sue Hansen, project manager who coordinates the exhibit for the district that serves Bernalillo and portions of Sandoval and Torrance counties. The trailer is filled with sand-like plastic granules that can be molded into nearly any type of landscape by forming hills, plains and valleys. With the addition of toy houses, greenery, animals, roads and cars to the landscape a miniature world appears. Hidden plumbing allows water to flow through the landscape to form a river, wetlands and a lake to rise and fall in response to simulated flood and drought cycles. Valencia County Extension Service staff believes that the Rolling River exhibit was a wonderful way to conclude the water conservation program. Students were able to see the affect of water on the landscape.
Last by not least, the answer to the question: How many ways can you conserve water in your home? Fix leaky faucets and toilets. Turn down the volume of water to sink faucets. Wash only full loads in the dishwasher and laundry washing machine. Don’t use the hose to clean the sidewalk. Catch rain to water plants.
Can you think of any others ways to save water?