Third graders at schools in the Twin Cities, Towanda, Carlock and Hudson will soon receive lessons in water conservation through a new program sponsored by Friends of Everbloom.
The volunteer group monitors water quality and sponsors conservation projects at Lakes Bloomington and Evergreen, the two main sources of drinking water for the city of Bloomington.
Kathy Foster, of the Everbloom board, said the group's focus in the coming year will be on educating children about the importance of clean water.
"We decided on targeting third graders. We thought that is a great age for kids to get excited about clean water and water conservation and learn what all of that means," she said.
"We've got some of our own materials on our local watershed, on water conservation and how to protect our water supply and infrastructure and the impact that individual people can have on water quality and we thought we could share that with the third grade students and make that available to the teachers," Foster added.
Everbloom will hold a fish fry on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lake Road Inn in Hudson to raise funds to support the educational project. There will also be a variety of activities for children, including fishing lessons, between 9 a.m. and noon at Comlara Park as part of Everbloom's annual "Lakes Fest."
"We will be providing materials to use when we take the presentations out to classrooms, and providing material kids can take home, perhaps some hang tags that include 10 ways you can conserve water in your house," Foster said.
Lessons will also include what not to flush down the kitchen drain or the toilet as well as instruction on the water needs of wildlife and how to best fertilize a lawn, Foster said. Runoff from lawn and agriculture fertilizers and pesticides are among the main pollutants that make their way into the lakes and feeder streams that provide Bloomington's water.
Foster said Everbloom hopes to raise enough funds to also purchase materials to hold workshops for teachers on best practices for teaching conservation in the classroom.
"We will be providing materials to use when we take the presentations out to classrooms, and providing material kids can take home, perhapss some hang tags that include 10 ways you can conserve water in your house."