Education

Education is an integral part of the Santa Fe Watershed Associations mission. Currently, we have both youth and community education programs. The youth program includes classroom presentations, stewardship programs and youth group activities. We offer talks on the flora and fauna of the river and watershed policy and practices, hikes into the upper watershed, and public meetings and forums on current watershed issues.

Youth Education

Current Programs

My Water, My Watershed

Join us as we investigate the Santa Fe Upper Watershed through the world of macroinvertebrates (water bugs!) In the classroom, students learn how to identify aquatic insects using a dichotomous key and learn the components of their habitat. Then it's off for a full day in the field hiking, exploring, macroinvertebrate sampling and data recording. Back in the classroom, field data is reviewed and the connection between the river they visited and the water that comes from their taps is explored. This program is free to all fifth grade classes.

Working in the Watershed

Working in the Watershed is an experiential science-based outdoor learning program for Santa Fe middle school students that allows them to explore and study their watershed. Students spend a class learning about the watershed and the tools used for assessing its health. Students then visit the upper watershed in the fall and the spring to conduct water quality monitoring for basic parameters such as oxygen, nitrates, and temperature, survey macro-invertebrates, and perform a vegetation assessment. Back in the classroom, they will summarize their findings and will present their evaluation of the health of the Santa Fe River. Data gathered will also be posted on the this website and the City's Upper Watershed website page.

School River Stewards

Do you want to learn more about the Santa Fe River and how we can all help to restore it to healthier river? Then the River Stewards program is for you! This 4th-12th grade program includes an introduction to riparian habitats and a hands-on experience planting native vgetation along the Santa Fe River at the new San Isidro Park. This program is generously funded by Santa Fe County's Open Space and Trails Division.

General Public Programs

Municipal Watershed Hikes

The Santa Fe River with beavers, water bugs, and year-round water? Yes, in the usually closed to the public Upper Santa Fe Watershed. The Santa Fe Watershed Association leads hikes into a part of the watershed rarely seen on one Saturday a month, June through September. Learn about the natural and cultural history of the area and how our watershed is managed. Along the way, we discuss history, water issues, river health, and native animals and plants. The hike is five miles round trip. It starts at the Nature Conservancy's Santa Fe Canyon Preserve to learn about the first two dams on the Santa Fe River. We then hike into the closed watershed to Nichols' Reservoir, one of the two reservoirs that supply the city of Santa Fe with drinking water, and then up river to catch and look at aquatic insects and visit beaver dams. The hike is from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm and is free. Please check our calendar on the home page for the next hike. They are very popular and fill up fast.

Past Programs

The River Project

For the 2008/2009 school year, Ms. Chodosh's sixth and seventh grade class at Gonzales Middle School investigated the Santa Fe River and Arroyo Mascaras. River mapping, stream dynamics and restoration techniques were a few of the hands-on activities that the students learned about. They produced a field guide to animals of the river corridor for their school and planted native trees and wildflowers in the spring.

After-School Program

The Santa Fe Watershed Association joined with Youthworks! to provide environmental education to after-school students at Salazar, Ramirez-Thomas, and Gonzales Elementary Schools. One day a week, a volunteer group of students left their regular program to learn about their environment and community through hands-on activities. Once a month, the focus is on the watershed. The students made watershed models, played water-cycle games, learned about non-point source pollution, planted native wildflowers, and explored the river.

The after-school program is part of Youthworks! Environmental Service Learning Program that is funded by New Mexico State Public Education Department and State Farm Youth Advisory Committee. The goal of this program is to help revive the Santa Fe River by creating stewards rooted in our community.