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Urban Watershed Program
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What is a Watershed?
A watershed is all the area of land that serves as a drainage area for a stream, pond, river, lake, or wetland. Watersheds are important to water quality because what happens on land impacts the quality of the water. Therefore, it is important to study what happens on land around the waterways (the watershed) to understand water quality.
The JCPS Center for Environmental Education offers unique field study programs in Urban Watershed studies. Teachers and students can choose to explore local watersheds with the JCPS Center for Environmental Education staff via our Voyager canoes or Whitewater Rafts.
During the day-long trip, students explore water management systems and the kinds of problems cities face when managing water in urban areas and how to determine the health of important ecosystems. Additionally, students are exposed to the cultural and historical connections we have to the major waterways in our area.
The programs are scheduled in the fall and the spring of every year.
The Urban Watershed program has three guiding goals:
- To connect the concept of urban watersheds to core content concepts.
- To teach students about the infrastructure of large urban areas including waste water treatment, flooding, "clean" and waste water, and drainage.
- To involve students in water quality projects in Jefferson County by direct experience and by using MSD's water quality report.
Contact Dr. David Wicks at the JCPS Center for Environmental Education at 485-3295 or e-mail him at dwicks1@jefferson.k12.ky.us to learn more about this unique program.
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