CWN ProjectWET Final Report

• Water Efficiency Grant Type: Public Education & Outreach Grant
• Applicant: Colorado Watershed Network
• Project Name: Project WET
• Title: Final Project WET Grant Report
• Date: 12/5/2008
• County: Statewide
• Water Efficiency - Doc Type: Final Report

Water Efficiency Grant Program Final Project WET Grant Report (CWN)
The Colorado Watershed Network and Project WET have taken leadership roles in
understanding and supporting statewide youth education throughout Colorado. CWN
spearheaded the approach for the Water Education Task Force, ensuring that the process was data
driven and involved water education providers on the ground. Both the CWN Executive Director
and Colorado Project WET Coordinator were strong voices for water education, providing the
experience, knowledge, and partnerships to help make this important effort successful. The
Colorado Project WET Coordinator is also a voice for water education in the environmental
education and natural resource education community in Colorado. Through the Colorado
Alliance for Environmental Education, the Project WET Coordinator has been involved in an
effort to ensure the integration of natural resource education in the next revision of the Colorado
Model Content Standards, currently underway through the Colorado Department of Education.
A Project WET advisory committee has been established to assist the Project WET Coordinator
in achieving continued success in the short and long term. Members of the advisory committee
represent different aspect of water and the geographical distribution of the state; members include
representative from the Colorado Water Wise Council, City of Aurora, the Colorado Stormwater
Utility Council, the Boulder Keep It Clean Partnership, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the
Colorado State Forest Service, the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, the Colorado
Foundation for Agriculture, the University of Northern Colorado and a West Slope teacher.
IV. Challenges
A. Number of Educators
The largest challenge was meeting the numerical target set in the original grant. CWN reached
75% of the 1,200 educators indicated in the grant. Two factors contributed to CWN not meeting
these initial projections. First, the timing of when the grant was awarded was such that the
Colorado Project WET Coordinator could not be hired in time to significantly alter the summer
training schedule during 2007. During fiscal year 2008, 630 educators were reached, indicating
that CNN's efforts have contributed to a near doubling of historic levels, Secondly, the original
numbers were likely unrealistic to achieve in such a short timeframe. The initial projections were
based off surpassing Colorado's Project WILD numbers in a short amount of time, given the
importance of water in Colorado. However, Project WILD has been in operation for 25 years with
7 full time staff members, a significantly larger budget, and Colorado's Project WILD program is at
the forefront of wildlife education for the country. Therefore original estimates were not realistic
with the given staff and budget.
Despite these challenges, CWN has grown the program, especially in depth, since many more
of the workshops incorporate local field trips and expert resources during multiple day trainings
focused on regional water topics. These trainings take significantly more planning and
coordination that the typical 6.8 hour Project WET training and are extremely well received by
participating educators and the partnering community members and organizations.
Page 8