2009 Childrens Clean Water Festival

This April, River Network was invited to participate in the 16th annual Children’s Clean Water Festival. Bevan Griffiths-Sattenspiel, River Network’s Saving Water- Saving Energy Program Coordinator, and Jacob Cohen, Partnership Program Intern, were fortunate enough to attend this year’s event. It was a great opportunity for River Network to spread the message amongst area youth of the importance of protecting and restoring clean water resources!

Sponsored by a number of local agencies including the Portland Water Bureau, Clackamas River Water Providers, Clean Water Services and the Bureau of Land Management, the Clean Water Festival is designed for 4th and 5th grade students to learn about water and how it relates to our world. This year’s Festival included 32 classroom presenters and 21 exhibitors representing a variety of public, private, and non-profit organizations committed to water and environmental education in the Portland metro region. With nearly 1,400 students in attendance, “It was really an environmental educator’s dream come true,” explained Griffiths-Sattenspiel.

“In preparing for this event, it occurred to me that- in addition to educating young people about our water resources, the connection between water efficiency and energy efficiency and ways that students can impact conservation- it would be an excellent opportunity to introduce youths to the principals of civic engagement and to provide them with an opportunity to take action on the knowledge they were gaining throughout the day,” said Cohen, while describing the activity he planned for the festival. “We invited the students to write letters to Oregon’s Governor, Ted Kulongoski, illustrating the reasons why they care about protecting clean water, and the specific actions that they are committed to taking. We explained that this was an opportunity to voice their values to our elected officials, and to inspire leaders to take their own actions by making policies that ensure abundant clean water resources.”

On the letters, in addition to the student’s stories and commitments, River Network included information explaining the economic benefits of water-efficiency and the energy embedded in the country’s water use. The letters urged Oregon’s Governor to utilize a portion of economic stimulus money towards water efficiency improvements. “This is the sort of action our government has the ability to take,” the presenters explained to the students, “just as you can commit to actions like taking shorter showers and turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth.”

The presenters had great fun seeing student’s reactions to the project, and they were genuinely excited at the realization that they could use not only their behavior, but their voices to impact the protection of our environment. At the end of the day, over 80 students wrote letters and the presenters felt confident that the voices of youth would be well received in Salem. “Especially,” Cohen explained, “if the Governor is as inspired as I was!”