Education

Educating future generations about the important role water plays in our lives and the necessity of water conservation is essential to the preservation of our groundwater. Since 1999, the staff at Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District has travelled across the District to speak to elementary children about water issues and conservation techniques.
Our 5th grade education program covers water conservation, the water cycle, aquifer knowledge, playa lakes and sources of water. We also have an underground flow model that visually demonstrates what the aquifer looks like, how water flows beneath the Earth and how wells work. At the end of the presentation, students are given a water conservation kit and a water wheel in hopes that they will share their knowledge and practice water conservation at home. During the 2010-2011 school year, we covered 3,591 miles giving 93 water conservation presentations to 84% of the schools within the District. We reached 2,248 fifth grade students and the total cost of the program per student including gas, salaries, water kits and water wheels was $10.65.
This year marked the seventh year that the District has sponsored the "Major Rivers" program. "Major Rivers" is a TAKS affiliated, seven lesson course that includes student workbooks, teacher lesson plans, and fun educational experiments. It was developed by teachers and the Texas Water Development Board to introduce fourth graders to Texas’ major water resources and how to use them wisely. In September 2010, we delivered 2,634 fourth grade student packets to District schools.
Our staff also reached an additional 1060 students through area water festivals, science days and out-of-district presentations. At Earthfest 2011, we unveiled our new Water Warrior mascot. Kids of all ages can recite the Water Warrior pledge and get a temporary tattoo to show the world their commitment to saving water.
The 2010-2011 education program was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to reaching more students this fall.