Hey everyone! I just arrived at the last stop of my trip touring all the OSM/VISTAs in the field, at the Harpeth River Watershed Association in Brentwood, TN.
I arrived just in time to help OSM/VISTA Marina and a HRWA volunteer teach a watershed lesson to a group of kids at a summer camp. We used a really cool hands-on tool called EnviroScape to teach kids about nonpoint source pollution and the concept of a watershed. It’s a big plastic landscape with a creek running through the center and the kids are able to “litter” the landscape, then make it rain and see how all the litter on the land makes its way into the creek. We then taught the kids about benthic macroinvertebrates and how scientists can sample a creek for these bugs to determine water quality. We all received small nets and buckets and then got into the creek to go find some critters! Some of the wildlife that we found included: crayfish, darters, caddisflies, aquatic worms and blackfly larvae (ew!), damselflies and snails! I think I had just as much fun as all the kids did and it was so great to see them learning while having a great time! In fact, I had so much fun playing in the creek that I forgot I was actually at work, so I was really excited when Marina told me that we had another chance to get in the creek later in the week for a stream cleanup!
Back in May 2010, Metro Nashville was devastated by a historic flood. Last summer as part of a grant through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, HRWA launched a flood recovery hotline for residents of Davidson County to report remaining flood debris. HRWA received over 200 calls and assessed and prioritize every site. This summer HRWA is working with volunteers to clean the streams listed as a top priority.
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| Marina found some awesome waders that were just my size! |
We had a great group of young adult volunteers completing a service project through a local church. Before we got started, we gave them an orientation and some background information on the project. They learned of all the items we needed to find and remove, including: large metal items, car batteries, plastic pieces, carpet, mattresses, tires and debris dams which were all impairing the water quality of this small tributary to the Cumberland River, the source of our drinking water. This particular cleanup site was also very unique because it is in the vicinity of a large homeless camp in Nashville. The volunteers were alerted to this, and reminded to be just as respectful to them as they would be to homeowners along residential creeks. Just because the people who live here don’t have an “official” home and yard, this is still their space and we needed to be just as respectful as we would have been in any other neighborhood. Residents of the camp were a bit sensitive at first because they didn't know who we were or what we were doing. But, all the volunteers were very friendly and willing to talk with the residents of the camp to inform them on who we were and what we were doing. Once they learned that we were here to clean the creek and remove flood debris, they were extremely grateful!
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| Our volunteers were so hard-working that they removed over 1 ton of flood debris! |
I had such a fun and educational time visiting everyone, but I am excited to return home to the Support Office in Beckley, WV!
