Local students learn stewardship

on Nine Mile Creek

...cont.

On Sept. 23, approximately 240 Scottsbluff High School biology students got their hands dirty and feet wet as part of a hands-on lesson in water monitoring. Former science teacher and Nine Mile Creek Watershed council chairman Mike Sarchet coordinated the data-collecting field trip with SHS biology instructors and NPNRD watershed coordinator Dennis Beyer .

    “The more we can get kids involved and understanding the importance of local watersheds, the better,” Sarchet said. “They need to know how it affects them and their communities.”

     During the tour the students were presented a brief history of the nearly 100-year old manmade drainage system that is Nine Mile Creek, located approximately 10 miles northeast of Minatare.       According to Sarchet, the creek in the 1950s was ranked as one of the top cold water areas in the entire Midwest region for trout fishing. Due to increased groundwater use in the area and several years of drought, the stream's flow has been adversely affected. The local watershed council and NPNRD have taken extra precautions to protect the stream's health and longevity.

     Students were introduced to the Nine Mile Project, in which hundreds of Russian olive trees have been removed as a water-saving and wildlife habitat improvement plan, and given a road tour of the area to view farm ground has been left idle due to water shortages. The students were able to recognize the direct correlation between water availability and economic sustainability.

     Streamside, students measured water temperature, flow and water volume rates in the stream and gathered different plant species.

    The tour kicked off the first of many hands-on learning opportunities the NPNRD will conduct this fall in cooperation with area schools. This week Beyer and other NPNRD staff members will be holding classroom and in-field studies centered on World Water Monitoring Day, which will be observed Oct. 18.

     NPNRD staff members have also been teaching students about the importance of planting trees. For four days in October, the NPNRD in cooperation with the Game & Parks and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are hosting the annual Branch Out educational sessions at Wildcat Hills Nature Center south of Gering.

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