Aquifer Watch Groundwater Education Taking Youth Into The Future

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Aquifer WatchGroundwater Education Taking Youth
Into The Future

• Beckie Morris Gail McGlamery
• Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation
  District
• Austin, Texas

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What is Aquifer Watch?

• Groundwater education program for middle schools
• Field Trip and Student Training
• On-site water quality monitoring
• pH, temperature, conductivity - Horriba meter
• alkalinity chlorides - Digital Titrators
• nitrates - Spectrophotometer
• Well adoption
• Classroom materials and support

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Aquifer Watch in Action
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Program Goals . . .

• Through hands on participation in the Aquifer
  Watch program, students will gain an
  understanding of the importance of good
  groundwater quality and potential threats to that
  quality.
• Aquifer Watch will lay important groundwork
  towards the development of a model, volunteer,
  groundwater-monitoring program that can be
  replicated in other communities in Texas and the
  nation.

. . . and Objectives

• Students will learn how to collect water samples
  and measurements, how to perform water quality
  analysis, and how to interpret groundwater data.
• Students will learn about non-point source
  pollution and the dynamics and hydrogeology of
  groundwater resources in Texas and more
  specifically their own local groundwater
  resource.
• Students will communicate their findings to other
  schools participating in the program through the
  use of an Internet website.
• Students will learn about the cultural history
  associated with wells and groundwater and careers
  related to water resources.

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The Edwards Aquifer (Balcones Fault Zone)
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Typical Cross-Section of the Edwards Aquifer
Region
Contributing Zone
Recharge Zone
Artesian Zone
Artesian Spring
Land Surface
Relatively Impermeable Younger Formations
Edwards Limestones
Edwards Aquifer
Edwards
Relatively Impermable Older Formations
Artesian Aquifer
Graphic courtesy of Gregg A. Eckhardt
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Characteristics of the Barton Springs
Edwards Aquifer

• Karst limestone aquifer -- contains sinkholes,
  caves, and losing streams known as recharge
  features.

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Why is groundwater important?

• Groundwater flows into the Colorado River, the
  drinking water supply for the City of Austin and
  communities downstream.
• 54.9 of all Texans depend on groundwater for
  their drinking water.
• 1.5 million Texans more than 500,000 households
  are served by privately owned individual wells.
• Approximately 45,000 people in rural southern
  Travis and northern Hays Counties draw from the
  Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer.

Data from The Fountainhead published by the Texas
Groundwater Association, December 1999
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The Need for Groundwater Education

• Unprecedented growth, especially over the
  aquifers recharge zone, has resulted in
  residents who know little about local groundwater
  issues.
• In 1997, a portion of the BSEA was designated a
  Sole Source Aquifer. Currently, 45,000 people in
  rural areas south of Austin directly depend on
  it.
• City of Austin residents, though supplied with
  surface water from a municipal supply, make
  decisions on zoning and transportation that
  impact the aquifer.

• Barton Springs pool is deeply connected to the
  spirit of city. Media attention sensationalizes
  singular problems and does not supply citizens
  with enough information to fully understand the
  issues.
• Listed in 1997, the endangered Barton Springs
  Salamander exists only in the closely associated
  series of springs known as Barton springs.

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Aquifer Watch Schools and Wells
Participating Schools
Adopted Wells
Adopted Karst Feature
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Adopt a Well

• Selected a well within 15 miles of school,
  criteria were location, samples representative of
  the Edwards aquifer, accessibility, safety, and
  surroundings.

• Students visit their well two times during each
  semester to perform water sampling and on-site
  analysis.

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Training Field Trip

• A field trip has been incorporated as a component
  of the program to peak students interest, give
  them a unique experience, and put the abstract
  topic of the aquifer in a context to which they
  can relate.

• Training happens with the equipment in the
  classroom over two visits. The purpose of the
  training is to acquaint students with the
  equipment. Students are not expected to perform
  tests with precision. Quality assurance is
  secondary in this program to education,
  understanding, and experience.

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Classroom Activities

• Each teacher is provided with a curriculum binder
  containing activities, color transparencies, and
  maps. Teachers also receive a water well video,
  individual well information, and interactive
  CD-ROM.
• District staff visit the classroom several times
  during the school year to assist the teacher in
  introducing the activities and demonstrating the
  groundwater model.

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In the Field

• During each well visit, four stations are set up
  around the wellhead for the students.
• Students carry an individual worksheet (left)
  with them to each station, filling in their data
  as they perform analysis.
• Students also fill out a station datasheet that
  provides a continuous record of each station
  during their visit.

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Station 1 - Wellhead

• Students use an e-line to measure water levels.
• Drawdown Recovery

• Flow measurements from the well are quantified
  using a five gallon bucket and stop watch.

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Station 2 Horriba Meter

• Horiba Meter measures pH, Conductivity, and
  Temperature.
• Students use these parameters to indicate that
  they have purged the pressure tank and are
  pumping from the Edwards Aquifer.

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Station 3 Titration

• Hach Digital Titrators measure alkalinity and
  chloride in milligrams per liter (mg/L).
• Alkalinity can indicate residence time of water
  sample.
• Chloride can indicate the bad water line or
  seepage of wastewater or septic tank into the
  aquifer.

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Station 4 - Spectrophotometer

• Hach Spectrophotometer 2000, capable of measuring
  ions and heavy metals, is used by the students to
  measure nitrates.
• At the start of the program, students also used
  it to measure fluorides and sulfates. Time
  considerations required the elimination of these
  tests.

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Components to be Added in 2002-2003

• Website
• The BS/EACD launched a new website in August and
  has created a section for the Aquifer Watch
  program. In addition to containing program
  information, students will e-mail data, graphs,
  analysis, and comments/observations to be posted
  by District staff.

• End-of-Year Event
• Students will create a short presentation about
  their well and present it to an audience of
  fellow Aquifer Watch participants from other
  schools, parents, and other guests. Students and
  their teachers will receive certificates and
  t-shirts.

• End-of-Year Field Trip
• Students will have a more intensive caving
  experience and visit the major discharge point
  for this aquifer segment, Barton Springs.

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Contact Information

• Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation
  District
• 1124 Regal Row
• Austin, Texas 78748
• [phone]
• www.bseacd.org
• Beckie J. Morris, Environmental Educator
• beckie_at_bseacd.org
• Gail McGlamery, Community Services Program
  Manager
• gail_at_bseacd.org