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This month there will be ample opportunities for young and old to test and improve their water “knowledge base” and for experts to share theirs through water festivals, literature, and conferences.
The 2004 Kitsap Water Festival is scheduled for Wednesday, March 24, 2004 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at Olympic College in Bremerton. This Festival provides an opportunity for fourth grade students from around Kitsap County to learn about how their actions can affect water quality.
This festival teaches water concepts and water’s relationship to other resources through hands-on, fun, and interesting presentations, displays, and activities. This annual event has been a huge success for hundreds of students and their parents thanks to the tremendous support and involvement of area experts, agencies, and watershed groups.
For more information contact Anne Nelson (annen2@u.washington.edu) or Sue Texeira (stexeira@u.washington.edu).
With the future of space exploration and underwater expeditions the topic of budget consideration among local legislators, Congress, and debate nationwide, Billy Frank, Jr. pondered on what life on Earth would be like should this planet someday experience the fate of our neighbor, Mars.
“As Mars Rovers scout the so-called angry red planet in search of ancient signs of life-sustaining water, it is good to be reminded of the critical link between life and this precious substance. We earthlings might even wonder if we’re getting a little glimpse of one of our own possible futures,” Frank wrote in a recent press release.
“Is it even remotely possible that our lush blue and green planet could one day be like Mars, where oceans consist of dust and rock in place of deep waters swarming with diverse and magnificent forms of animal and plant life? Will explorers from some other world send rovers here one day seeking signs of primeval life on a planet that was once blessed with living and growing things?”
“Such a fate may seem remote, but the fact is we’re already seeing signs that make such a scenario somewhat plausible. Tribes are natural stewards, and the lessons passed along to us by our ancestors carry the wisdom of a thousand generations. None of these is more important than the need to be caretakers of this fragile planet and do all we can to sustain ample clean, free-flowing water to keep our salmon alive and well. One of the most fundamental of these resources is water — the substance of life. Our tribal ancestors have always taught us to respect the purity and sanctity of it. Keep it clean and keep it flowing. Keep the salmon swimming.”
While admittedly not close enough to our own generation’s existence, Frank went on to explain, “Earth becoming another Mars may be tens of thousands if not millions of years away. It might never happen at all. But what is one to conclude when scientists predict that the warming trend we are currently experiencing will melt the glacier on Mt. Rainier within 25 years? That glacier has fed my people by releasing cool, clear water into the Nisqually River for thousands of years.
What is one to conclude when we see the state lean so heavily toward the easing of environmental regulation in an effort to accommodate the so-called growth to come? Bill after bill is being introduced in the state legislature to expand easy exploitation of the environment, and erode resources that, at least in part, actually belong to the tribes rather than the state.
We only wish the state could understand the value of such lessons. Far too few people seem to realize that when state government officials allow the diversion of excessive amounts of water from our rivers to cities and rural areas, not only are they violating the principles of our treaties, they’re betraying the trust of their own constituents. Your future depends on water, whoever you are. But the state has been busily dipping into our protected waters for many years, and the rivers are now all over-allocated.
The U.S. is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Mars to prove what we have always known. Water is life. Let’s protect it so there will be future generations here on the planet we all call home.”
Revised water quality standards, new general stormwater permitting and other evolving Clean Water Act developments will be discussed at an annual “Clean Water and Stormwater” conference. A distinguished faculty of state, federal and local government representatives, consultants, and practitioners will provide practical suggestions and insights to these and other emerging Clean Water issues.
The conference will take place on March 22 and 23, 2004 in Seattle at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. For information or to register go to: http://www.clenews.com/LSI/04/04clwa.htm or call (800) 854-8009. The event is being organized by Program Co-chairs: Michael P. O’Connell, Esq., Stoel Rives LLP, James A. Tupper, Jr., Esq., and The Mentor Law Group PLLC.
Whether you choose to attend a formal event or learn through local volunteer efforts, read up on the latest water research and reports, or just take time to talk to watershed groups in your area – take your part in water’s future. | 
