Youth learn about water conservation
at school

Water and sand jumps from a pan that was artificially rained on for a demonstration on erotion Thursday during the MicKinley County Water Awareness Day at Miyamura High School. The demonstration taught pupils about the benefits of vegetation for the prevention of land erosion. [photo by Daniel Zollinger]

By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — It was the fourth annual McKinley County Youth Water Awareness Day in Gallup on Wednesday and Thursday. Pupils gathered in the Miyamura High School gym to learn about water protection and conservation.

“It makes learning about it fun,” Gallup’s Water Conservation Coordinator Elizabeth Barriga said.

The event brought some 1,200 pupils to see presentations on a wide range of projects that demonstrate how erosion, wildlife, macroinvertebrates, and plant life are all connected to the environmental quality and availability of drinking water.

“Less than one percent of water on the planet is potable,” Barriga said.

The various demonstrations were presented by people from various organizations in New Mexico and Arizona from Sandia Laboratories to the nonprofit Wildlife Rescue Inc.

Mike Skelly, who is a geologist with Weston Solutions and works at Sandia Laboratories, was on hand to show participants how water travels underground. Aquifers are often pictured as pools of water between layers of rock. Skelly showed that ground water is found in spaces between grains of sand and gravel deep beneath the surface. Using a plunger to draw water from a sand-filled display model, he showed how the aquifers are filled by runoff and depleted by excessive demands from wells.

Using live birds, Peggy McCormick showed groups of students how a lack of drinkable water can affect wildlife. And they discussed how the affect on one species can damage an entire ecosystem. Student Katie Mortensen, who had helped with the all-day demonstrations, said she had learned a lot from the talks.

“We learned why birds need water,” Mortensen said.

Barriga said she hopes that the event will have a long-term educational effect on the pupils, and that they will walk away with an understanding of water issues and the need to conserve the resource. Wells and diversion projects, she explained, are expensive and require years to build.

“It goes back to the cheapest way to save water is to conserve,” she said.

Barriga also pointed out that the children today are the policy makers of tomorrow. Educating them now could lead to better water policies in the future.

“They’re going to make the future water policy when we’re in our wheelchairs,” she said.

The event was funded by the city, as well as in-kind donations from area businesses, which provided hospitalities for the volunteers and presenters. Rico Auto Complex, Wal-Mart, and Connections, Inc. were among the business that sponsored the event.