Water Resources Education Assessment - Coconino County

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Containing 18,600 square miles, Coconino County is the largest county in Arizona and the second largest in the United States. However, surface water is very limited, except for the most well known, the Colorado River through Grand Canyon. Glen Canyon Dam and a small portion of its impounded Lake Powell are located upstream, just within the Arizona boundary. With a 1995 population of 108,000 the county is very sparsely populated. Indian reservations comprise 37 percent of the land, and are home to Navajo, Hopi, Paiute, Havasupai, and Hualapai tribes. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management manage 32 percent of the land, the state of Arizona owns 10 percent; other public lands comprise 7 percent; and the remaining 14 percent is privately owned. General information can found at http://www.coconino.az.gov/.

Flagstaff, with a population of about 60,000, is the trade and population center of the county and the location of the majority of the water resource education efforts. Within this area, a number of organizations provide some form of environmental education. Coconino County boasts landmark studies in both geology and biology and has a wide variety of cultural and historic resources. The Grand Canyon has long been a premier showplace for field geology and is commonly used in textbook illustrations. Sunset Crater, SP Crater and other features of the San Francisco Peaks volcanic field are also well known and widely studied. In the field of biology, pioneer ecologist C. Hart Merriam used the San Francisco Peaks as an example in his writings on life zones. Prehistoric inhabitants' use of the area was dominated by the presence (or absence) of water and nearly every museum or park exhibit related to these cultures emphasizes the role of water resources and how the cultures adapted to water in their environment. One of the prehistoric cultures has been named Sinagua, which is Spanish for "without water". The most recent high school in Flagstaff is named after this culture.

Because of its limited supply and critical importance, information and education relating to water is included in a very wide variety of programs and activities. Water resource education is a portion of many of the general environmental education programs, with varying degrees of detail and emphasis. Providers include educational institutions, government agencies, and nonprofit institutions. For the area encompassing Flagstaff and environs there is a mechanism for coordination, the Resource Education Network of Northern Arizona, which meets monthly for information sharing and which has recently published a Resource Booklet (directory). This booklet has greatly helped to facilitate knowledge of other programs and led to referrals and coordinated efforts. The majority of its participants are from Coconino County. The Resource Education Network's mission "is to promote and encourage communication and cooperation among individuals, organizations, and agencies to improve and expand resource education in Northern Arizona."

Information is summarized for the county and then specifically for a few of the major providers.

Purpose and Description - Providing a broad general education on water including the water cycle, the ecological role of aquatic and riparian systems, the development and use of water by humans, and the importance of water conservation. Coordination and partnerships, helped and facilitated by the Resource Education Network, result in consistent and compatible messages - especially in the Flagstaff area.

The school systems are the primary outlets for water resource education - primarily through the science curriculum, but with some associated information from social studies such as of geography, history and anthropology. Besides the regular teaching staff there are a number of supporting resources, both direct for guest teaching and field trips, and indirect through teacher workshops and physical/teaching resources to aid in education. Private nonprofit groups such as the Resource Center for Environmental Education and the Arboretum at Flagstaff offer a variety of support. Government agencies provide a variety of direct and indirect efforts. A notable example is the Field Science Partnership which the National Park Service at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area has with the Page Unified School District and several other participants. The Environmental Education Outreach Program of Northern Arizona University provides resources to facilitate programs for Native American students. A number of agencies participate in broad environmental education efforts, with specific water resource education efforts on a demand or request basis from staff specialists.

The City of Flagstaff operates a continuing and wide-ranging education program in water conservation. The City of Williams provides some water conservation education directly with its customers.

There is a considerable amount of water resource education which is a part of, or incidental to, ecotourism, especially in the Colorado River corridor in Grand Canyon National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Visitor Center exhibits, ranger interpretive talks, interpretation by commercial guides and outfitters - e.g., raft companies, backpacking tours, etc. - all contain some portion of water resource education relevant to the particular area being visited. Though less visible and dramatic, parks and museums in the Flagstaff area also contain a water component.

Audience - Programs target all ages; however, the greatest effort is students, especially in elementary school. Some specialized programs address high school students. The general population is a target audience for water conservation programs.

Impacts - It is difficult to quantify impacts. However, educators contacted reported having positive feedback. The few quantified evaluations of programs reported better than 90 percent approval. The City of Flagstaff's overall water conservation program, of which education is one component, has resulted in per capita water consumption declining significantly. The Flagstaff School program of Project Life has such public support that when budget shortfalls threatened to eliminate it, the public rallied and through fund raising and direct donations kept it in operation until school district finances improved. However, this success has led the school district to phase it into an off-budget item so that all funding must come from outside sources.

Funding - Program funding is variable and often unsure, resulting in a significant portion of environmental educators' time being spent in fund raising. The most secure is the water conservation program of the City of Flagstaff where the program is a part of the budget derived from user fees. Outside sources of funding include: in-lieu state income tax donations (the Arizona program allows up to $200 of state income tax obligation to be donated to educational or charitable institutions in lieu of being paid to the state); funds from the Arizona environmental license plate fund; and the state Heritage Fund from lottery revenues. Outside grants are used heavily, however, oftentimes they are just for start up and other funds must be found to continue a program. A consistent message from educators was that greater stability in funding is needed.

Lessons Learned - It is important to teach the basics about water - the water cycle, the significance of riparian and aquatic ecosystems, human use of water and water conservation needs. The programs need to be consistent and continuous with information integrated into all relevant education activities. Effective communication, coordination and development of partnerships are key to implementation.

Individual Programs - Information on some of the primary individual programs is presented in detail. Following that is a list of some of the programs which provide water resource education but for which it is a lesser emphasis. This list is not a totally comprehensive list as there are others responsible for some aspect of water resource education. For example, regulatory agencies such as the Coconino County Health Department provides information on waterborne diseases and prevention, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality provides specific information on on-site wastewater treatment systems and general water quality information. Water conservation information is also provided to customers by local water companies.

Flagstaff Unified School District

Water resource education is integrated into the basic curriculum, specifically as a part of science classes and social studies - geography and history. Specific projects emphasizing components of water resources may be included in school science fairs, the Envirothon, and specific class presentations and field trips.

Interests and backgrounds of individual teachers may result in additional specific water education. For example, an Advanced Placement Biology class at Sinagua High School took on a project of studying water quality at Fossil Creek.

Other Water Resource Education Providers

Federal Government

National Park Service

Grand Canyon National Park - exhibits, interpretation by concessionaires conducting commercial raft trips, ranger talks
Web site: http://www.nps.gov/grca/education/ [temporarily take off the web, 1/15/2002]

Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, Wupatki National Monuments - exhibits, interpretive specialists. Water resources in relation to prehistoric cultures at Walnut Canyon and Wupatki National Monuments.
Web site: http://www.nps.gov/wupa/ [temporarily take off the web, 1/15/2002]

U.S. Geological Survey - presentations by water resource staff based on requests, exhibits and educational resources on site
Contact: Sue Priest (520) 556-7148
Web site: http://www.flag.wr.usgs.gov/ [broken link as of 1/18/2002 - we're looking for a replacement]

U.S. Forest Service
Coconino National Forest - cooperate with Resource Education Network (REN) activities, some water resource education resources available
Contact: Karen Malis-Clark (520) 527-3600
Web site: /r3/coconino/

Kaibab National Forest - cooperate with REN activities, some resources available
Contact: Sharon Waltrip (520) 635-5646
Web site: http://www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab

Rocky Mountain Research Station - cooperate with REN activities. Have recently constructed a 100 meter long artificial stream for research purposes. Will be incorporating some water resource education efforts with selected student groups.
Contact: Brenda Strohmeyer (520) 526-2160
Web site: RMRS Flagstaff Lab

State Government

Arizona Game & Fish Department - cooperate with REN activities, educator workshops in Aquatic Wild, some riparian and aquatic ecosystem resources available
Contact: Bill Watt (520) 774-5045
Web site: https://azgfdportal.az.gov/

Non-governmental Nonprofit and Private Organizations

The Arboretum at Flagstaff - cooperate with REN activities, Arboretum site includes a pond and school tours with a wetland habitat module for 3rd grade students.
Contact: Steve Yoder or Nancy Nahstoll (520) 774-1442
Web site: http://www.thearb.org/

Grand Canyon Field Institute - guided backpack trips in Grand Canyon and short raft trips on Colorado River. Interpretation includes some water resource information.
Contact: Jan Koons (520) 638-2481
Web site: http://www.grandcanyon.org/fieldinstitute/

Museum of Northern Arizona - cooperate with REN activities. Some water resource education a part of museum exhibits and with interpretation on guided backpack trips and river raft trips.
Contact: Rachel Edelstein (520) 774-5211
Web site: http://www.musnaz.org/