The Dog Days Are Over

Cecilia Stewart and Katherine Gray educate at the Center City Block Party

While the Texas Panhandle was breaking drought and heat records this summer, the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District was busy increasing public relations and education efforts. 

Classes taught in conjunction with the Carson County Square House Museum jumpstarted the outreach program.  Sandy Poteet worked water conservation and the Ogallala Aquifer into her curriculum and she and Joy Shadid spent three weeks covering Groom, Panhandle and White Deer.  The classes worked on mixed media art collages, sand painting, weaving, clay models and creating water conservation commercials.

The White Deer Kickback Days provided another opportunity to reach our District constituents.  Drew Hodges spearheaded the effort to create and operate a booth with interactive games where a water conservation tip won the chance to play and win prizes.  Additionally, Drew coordinated and hosted the wildly successful watermelon eating contest.

In August, PGCD partnered with the City of Amarillo and hosted a booth at Kidsfest 2011 where several thousand kids went through the stages of the water cycle from precipitation to the infiltration of a life-sized aquifer to indoor and outdoor water use.  At the end of the cycle, volunteers handed out coloring books and applied Water Warrior temporary tattoos.  An estimated 15,000 people attended Kidsfest.

Rounding out the summer, PGCD distributed information at the Pampa Boomtown Block Party and Center City Block Party and delivered over 4,000 lawn gauges with low-water plant guides to local greenhouses and hardware stores.  With the heat behind us, PGCD is gearing up for the 8^th year of our elementary education program.  This year we expect to reach over 2,500 5^th grade students with our new presentation, The Adventures of Alice in Waterland and the Water Warrior.

A huge thank you goes to Katherine Gray, Cecilia Stewart and Erik Wilkinson along with numerous volunteers from the City of Amarillo who put in countless hours in sweltering heat to help us educate the public.