NBC29Kids Gain Water Wisdom in Charlottesville

Dozens of kids spent their Saturday getting dirty to stay clean along Charlottesville's Meadow Creek.

Saturday's youth watershed summit gave kids a hands-on way to learn about our creeks and streams and how to keep those bodies of water healthy.

Nets in hand, nearly three-dozen budding environmentalists hit the water for World Water Monitoring Day.

"It's not certified, but it's the kind of monitoring where we can get kids in the stream and teach them about the importance of the watershed," said Robbi Savage with the Rivanna Conservation Society.

"I like looking at the pictures of the animals at some of the stations," said participant Ryan Winslow.

But the day involved much more than just looking. "Well, what we did was we would take some water and put it in like a little test tube," Winslow said. 

Kids experimented to test water quality, clarity and chemical balance to see how different conditions affect life along the watershed. "I'm excited to explore the bugs and critters that are inside the water," said participant Ethan Parsons.

Organizers say they want to instill a critical message in these kids. "We need to teach kids at the very earliest ages about the importance of caring for their own resources," Savage said.

With the hope that they might be able to pass some advice along to grownups. "If they wanted to throw something away, they shouldn't throw it in the water," Winslow said.

The city, county and environmental groups jointly sponsored the summit. Organizers plan to share the data the kids collected with an environmental group in Taiwan that hosted a similar water quality event Saturday.

Reported by Adam Rhew
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