City of Atlanta

Department of Watershed Management

Press Release

March 19, 2010 – Commissioner Rob Hunter announced today that the Department’s Office of Water Efficiency has been named Georgia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) Educators of the Year. The Award was presented at the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia’s Annual Awards Luncheon at Kennesaw State University.

The Office was recognized for “engaging elementary students in a variety of water-related projects and scenarios so they are able to better understand their impact on the environment and the importance of water conservation” and for a “hands-on approach to teaching [that] provides the students with experiences necessary to understand environmental issues.”

The Office of Water Efficiency has been working with four elementary schools in the Atlanta Public Schools system. Approximately 250 students at Kimberly, Cascade, Peyton Forest and Grove Park elementary schools participated in a 10-week curriculum focused on water education. The students:
Built water wheels illustrating the water cycle;
Created an aquatic life mobile to explain the difference between salt and freshwater;
Performed leak detection experiments;
Analyzed water quality; and
Created and painted rain barrels for their schools.

“It’s gratifying to see the Department recognized for its ongoing efforts to educate schoolchildren about the importance of water,” Commissioner Rob Hunter said. “Children’s enthusiasm for saving water can have far-reaching benefits for their families, their friends and their communities.”

Project WET is a program of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources dedicated to promoting awareness, knowledge and stewardship of water resources through the development and dissemination of K-12 classroom-ready teaching aids and through the establishment of state and internationally sponsored Project WET programs.

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The Department of Watershed Management provides drinking water and wastewater collection and treatment services to more than 1 million people over a 650-square-mile area.

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