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• Board Meeting Date: 3/18/2008
• Description: OWCDP Section - Water Efficiency Grant Request - Colorado Watershed Network - Project Wet
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Application for Water Efficiency Grant Program: Colorado Watershed Network
Application for Water Efficiency Grant Program
1. Name and contact information of public agency seeking grant.
Project Sponsor and Primary Contact Person
Name: Jo Scarbeary
Agency Name: Colorado Watershed Network
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 21935
Denver, CO 80221
Phone Number: [phone]
Fax Number: [phone]
E-Mail:.lo. Scarbcary~~i~coloradowatershed.or:;
Overview and Background: Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) is an
internationally recognized water education program that provides high quality
curriculum resources and training for over 30,000 educators annually throughout the
United States and around the world. A water education program written by teachers
and water professionals, Project WET is founded on the belief that youth need to
develop an awareness and appreciation of how water is used in everyday life if they
are to understand what is happening to our water resources and take action to
protect and conserve our limited natural resources. This awareness to action
continuum is essential to cultivating stewardship and building the skills necessary to
solve the complex environmental problems of the future.
Project WET is a natural fit with the Colorado Watershed Networks mission of
"promoting the health of Colorado's watersheds through nonbiased community based
science and support." The driving philosophy behind Project WET is to teach youth
how to think, not tivhat to think by developing critical thinking skills. The Project
WET Curriculum and Activity Guide is anaward-winning K-12 resource of over 90
lessons that teach about the many aspects of water. Each activity is tested in hundreds
of classrooms before being included in the guide. "I think the Project WET book has
been intelligently written for educators. The activities are great, including temfic
background information" says a Boulder elementary school teacher.
A 1999 survey of Project WET educators showed that 95% of teachers felt Project
WET had a positive impact on students' interest in water issues. The only way
teachers can get the innovative Project WET Activity Guide is by attending a
workshop taught by a trained Project WET facilitator. Connecting educators with
local water professionals and curriculum resources through workshops and trainings
gives them extra tools to effectively teach students about water resource conservation.
According to a Fort Collins junior high school teacher, "Water is part of the
curriculum at every level and teachers need ready resources in order to make the topic
relevant and engaging. Project WET is EXACTLY what teachers need to help us
teach about water. The activities are field-tested, high-quality, and easy to use. The
resource is tremendously valuable, because there are so many relevant, standards-
based topics included in one book that it is very easy to find a lesson quickly no
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