Friday, June 4, 2010

Preparing for "Mi watershed es tu watershed."

I'm preparing for a post on the Forth Branch Watershed in ATX and general watershed management principles.  I'm hoping to meet up with an Austin Watershed expert, Mateo Scoggins.  Do you guys have any questions you'd like to me to ask him?

Here is what I will ask him:
  • What influence does Reagan High School have on the water quality of the Fort Branch watershed?
  • Do different creek segments have different environmental issues (upstream vs. downstream)?
  • What can citizens do to help?
And finally,
  • Why was the creek black during that rainstorm?  My guess? Tar from the roadside.
In the meantime, please have fun with this watershed-related activity.  Make some seed balls.    Planting native plants along creek beds (like the wildflowers in the seed balls) help prevent invasive species from settling here.  Want free seeds? Apply within.
AND (!)...TxDOT says wildflowers help improve water quality! See?  
Helping the environment was never so pretty.

Here are some definitions for you to look up as homework. Hee.

watershed
infiltration
non-point source pollution
point source pollution

3 comments:

  1. Seed balls! Sounds like fun!
    This would make a fun activity for kids at birthday parties- they love playing in mud! After making them they could wrap them in recycled paper and put a pretty bow on to add to their favor bags.
    (Just make sure the kids are old enough to know it is not an edible treat!)

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  2. That is also very pertinent here in Boise. The Boise river flows right through town but not only does the town's contribution to the watershed is an issue, further upstream are old mines and one that has been trying to go back into operation.

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  3. Hey, you have been busy! I love the watershed posts. Come over and tell me more about it!

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