The Story of Water Festival 2001 - Water Wonders

The day began with a flash of lightning and a thunder roll, then hard rain. The clouds quickly passed and the sun rose to a wonderfully bright, crystal clear cool day. This water from heaven was the perfect prelude for the third Children’s Water Festival !

Water Festival 2001 was held on Thursday and Friday, November 8 and 9 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Attendance this year was the highest ever with more than 1,000 4th grade students from Los Lunas, Rio Rancho and Albuquerque gathering to celebrate water. Nearly 3000 students, over 100 teachers and several hundred parents have participated in the three successful Water Festivals held in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

The students spent the day participating in action packed water education activities. 22 different activities were presented. Each group of students participated in 5 of these activities over the course of the day. This year, we were pleased to have students from Highland High School as MC’s for the Water Jeopardy competition, Bosque School students taught about Our Cottonwood Forest, and Albuquerque Academy Environment Club members showed the 4th graders how to make an Edible Aquifer. "The younger students really pay attention to the older students because they all speak the same language." said Festival Coordinator Susan Gorman.

The program included eight new activities that expanded the range of topics and core curriculum areas that were covered. New presenter, Deirdre Kann, from the National Weather Service, presented Weather or Not about the cloudy side of the Water Cycle. Kann reported, "I enjoy outreach and in this case, since it was limited to teachers/students who responded, you end up with a group which likely has a higher interest in the Festival than an average 4th grade class. The students and teachers looked happy to be participating and it was a pleasure to work with them."

Jean Arya, the Water Wizard ‘who knows all there is to know about water’, reported that everyone seemed happy to be there. "As the day went on, the children had more and more sophisticated answers to my questions. I could see the learning happening."

The Water Festival lead donors include New Mexico Environment Department, Surface Water Quality Bureau; US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, CWA Section 319; US Bureau of Reclamation; and the City of Albuquerque, Public Works / Water Resources. Sixteen other organizations are also financial contributors to the Water Festival and dozens more organizations provided presenters and volunteers. Donors, contributors and presenters were recognized through press releases, T-shirts, tote bags, large signs and logos displayed at the Festival and lists in teacher packets.

As planning for Water Festival 2002 gears up, Festival Steering Committee members will face the challenges of maintaining the excitement and momentum needed to produce the fourth Water Festival. At a time when water issues fill the daily papers, it is clear that it is more important than ever to continue to deliver high quality water education to our young folks. The Steering Committee invites your participation as a member, donor, presenter or volunteer. Let’s make sure that another group of eager 4th graders have the opportunity to participate in Water Festival 2002!

To see some pictures of what happened at Water Festival 2001, click here.

To tap into more Festival news, subscribe to the Waterfest Email list or to contact us, click here

Return to the Children's Water Festival Page

Return to the Children's Water Festival Page