A mini-grant awarded to the committee in 1997 provided funds to purchase 10 groundwater models. These models, which demonstrate how water moves through the ground, were distributed to schools throughout the county. A day long training session was offered to demonstrate how to use the models to show how NPS pollution can affect groundwater. The model is also used periodically by the committee for special events and training sessions.

Another way the committee reaches out to children is through the annual Water Week Celebration. The committee periodically sponsors a field trip for fourth and fifth graders from Albany City schools. The kids are bussed out to the Alcove reservoir and water treatment plant to see the path their water follows from source to faucet. The committee has also participated in Water Week activities with the Department of Environmental Conservation at the Five Rivers Environmental Center. This event gives the committee a great opportunity to teach children about watershed dynamics and to give them a hands-on opportunity to collect and identify macroinvertabrates and learn about their importance as an indicator of water quality.

The committee’s education efforts also extend to the community and to local decision makers. We periodically sponsor seminars on relevant topics such as septic system maintenance, well head protection, environmental regulations, and NPS pollution prevention.