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Let’s Get W.E.T.!  Help students learn about our natural waters

CFWA has a wonderful opportunity to bring an environmental education program to our high schools: Water Education Team, or W.E.T.  Through W.E.T., students learn state-of-the-art scientific skills while obtaining valuable data about our natural waters.  We have been asked by the Mid-South Fly Fishers to implement W.E.T. in the Caney Fork watershed.

The W.E.T. Program establishes long-term, volunteer water quality monitoring programs in high schools.  Students focus on the water quality of local aquatic resources such as nearby rivers, lakes, and wetlands.  Through the program, teachers and students are taught the techniques which are currently employed by water resource professionals to monitor conditions of aquatic habitats.  The necessary equipment (valued at over $4,000), books and training are furnished free of charge to participating schools.  Schools may coordinate their W.E.T. involvement with extracurricular organizations such as 4-H or Boy or Girl Scouts.  Participating schools must commit to a five-year program of monthly sampling of a local waterway.  Physical, chemical and biological data are collected by the students who participate in this exciting educational opportunity.

Participating students and teachers develop an understanding and appreciation of the local aquatic environment by taking a hands-on, real science approach to water resource education.  This appreciation spreads as students share their results with their communities and with other schools participating in the W.E. T. Program.

Teachers have found W.E.T. to fit into their curricula in various ways.  For instance the W.E.T. program can be incorporated into AP classes.  Student groups such as a biology club can perform sampling activities.  W.E.T. furnishes material for courses across the curriculum, including all the sciences, mathematics, and English.

Apart from the exceptional educational value of W.E.T., the program is important and will attract student interest as the data collected is of high quality and will be used by water professionals.  While there is constant pressure placed on our precious water supplies, state and federal budgets are stretched to the limits.  In Tennessee, the streams and rivers of our watersheds are only sampled once every five years, and only about 40% of our waters are actually monitored by TDEC.  The W.E.T. program helps fill in the limited monitoring which can be carried out by state agencies.

W.E.T. is a win/win program. Everybody wins! Schools obtain equipment, and teachers learn real-world science applications that can help them maintain the interest of their students.  Our environmental officials obtain valuable data that can help them in protecting our waters.  Most importantly, the students win.  Tuning our children on to the importance of clean water, and helping them to learn science are the most important benefits of the W.E.T. Program.  The knowledge the students gain can have a dramatic impact in determining their future.  The students win; the river wins; and ultimately we all win because W.E.T. helps us protect our life giving waters.

For more information about wet and how you can get involved contact: cfwa@cfwa-tn.org, or call John Harwood at 931 538-6395 COME ON -- LET'S GET W.E.T.!