Official Kids Mag

By Suzanne Rhodes Official Kids Mag Have you ever wondered where the water that flows from your faucet comes from or why it's clean enough to drink? Well, count your blessings, because here in Northwest Arkansas, we're fortunate to drink safe, clean, high-quality water from the Beaver Lake Water District (BWD). And educating children and teachers about drinking water and caring for the water in Beaver Lake is a high priority. "We have so many resources and two full-time educators," said Amy Wilson, BWD's director of public affairs. "I want everyone to know that our education team is dedicated to making it exciting and fun to learn about water and its importance to our lives, right here in Northwest Arkansas!" Here are a few facts you can find on the Beaver Water District website. Beaver Lake is actually a man-made reservoir. The United States Army Corps of Engineers began creating the lake in 1960 by building Beaver Dam across the White River. The lake catches water from rain and snow that drains into marshes, lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater of the Beaver Lake Watershed. The watershed covers an area of 1,192 square miles and provides enough water for 420,000 people in NWA. One in seven Arkansans drinks Beaver Lake. (Well, after it's been purified of course.) To make sure kids and their parents and teachers learn about the importance of clean water, Education Coordinator Dot Neely runs the Kids Water Education program, assisted by Amber Ebbrecht. Ms. Neely said that the Beaver Water District is closed now to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, school groups, 4-H, Scouts, and faith-based groups could come in person to participate in water education activities, field trips, programs and presentations. But now, "the computer screen has become the 'go-to' classroom," she said. The annual Secchi Day Science went online for the first time in August and features "over 70 'View and Do' e-exhibits submitted by Secchi Science Fair friends and partners." So, what is Secchi? It's a tool—actually a disk—used to measure water clarity. You can see how vital this tool is because no one wants to drink murky water! There are many other cool activities kids can do online, like the Virtual BWD Drinking Water Plant Tour, Land-Water Connection Computer Games, Water Fun Facts Scavenger Hunt, Build a Rain Barrel, Safe Water Jeopardy, Plan a Rain Garden and tons of stuff more. Because Northwest Arkansas' population is growing explosively, it's all the more important to protect and sustain our precious water supply and learn ways we can all help. What are some things you can do? Ms. Neely has a nice long list of suggestions. Here are a few. We hope every kid reading this will dive right in and become a Clean, Green Superhero. • Don't litter. No one likes to see trash floating in the water. • Take part in a creek, highway or watershed cleanup. You can join a group in your community or do it on your own with a parent or adult. Take a trash bag and some gloves, and go for a nature hike through area creeks. Pick up any trash you find and put in a disposal container. • Instead of continuing to buy bottled water, reuse the ones you have on hand. The water in the bottles you purchase is often just filtered from faucets in bottling companies. Fill plastic bottles with water from your own faucet at home and reuse them to save money. You'll be helping the environment in another way: those single-use plastic bottles that you buy end up in landfills. • Suggest to your mom or dad that they get the car washed at a commercial car wash, one that recycles the water and sends it to a wastewater treatment plant. There are lots of those kind of car washes in NWA, and they're better for the environment than washing the car on the driveway or street where dirt, grease and soap can wash into storm drains that go directly to creeks and streams. Be a clean, green superhero for Beaver Lake Beaver Lake Water District is teaching kids all about our precious water supply 42 • FeBruary 2021 • officialKidsMag.com Name: Kids Mag 4 x 2" Customer Name: BEAVER WATER DISTRICT Ad Number: 013121NWR4951 www.bwdh2o.org Create City-Scapes Build Dams & Lakes Plan Uses for Land S See how dams make "Fake Lakes" that are all actually real "Reservoirs" bwdh2o.org bwdh2o.org S Practice Engineering, Map-Making, & More S Explore the LAND-WATER CONNECTION S Grow healthy cities with habitat protection LAND-USE-LAND-CHANGE GAMES Learn while you play all 3 games online at WATER QUALITY WATER QUALITY WATER RESOURCES WATER RESOURCES WATERSHED DYNAMICS WATERSHED DYNAMICS

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