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In July and August of 2004, twelve students and four teachers from three local high schools traveled to Russia to establish a water quality based citizen-monitoring program on the Lake Baikal watershed in Siberia. Students from Oak Ridge, Golden Sierra and Union Mine High Schools who have participated in Watershed Education Summit (WES), a local ongoing monitoring program, were selected to take part. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world, containing 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh water supply. WES, in partnership with the Tahoe-Baikal Institute (TBI), organized this scientific and cultural exchange.
Oak Ridge Science Teacher Stan Iverson founded WES in 1998 using a $25,000 Innovations In Teaching Intel grant. WES has been conducting watershed studies on three tributaries within the watershed of the South Fork of the American River near Union Valley Reservoir in El Dorado county. Golden Sierra, Oak Ridge, Union Mine, and El Dorado High Schools, representing two different school districts, have established working partnerships with the United States Forest Service, El Dorado/Georgetown Resource Conservation District, State Water Resources Control Board, American River Conservancy, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Working alongside professionals, the students have collected water quality data each October. The USFS uses this data to develop policy. This past October Sacramento businessman Oleg Svanyuta sponsored ten Russian students from Lake Baikal that joined us at WES. TBI Board member Bob Harris and TBI Director Tony Brunello helped to create a program that introduced the students to the diverse culture that exists within the Lake Baikal watershed. Students had the opportunity to meet with water quality scientists and government officials, as well as participated in cultural activities in both Russia and Mongolia. |