| Director: |
Ginger Davis |
| Other Researchers: |
Polly Sturgeon IDEM
USDA -NRCS
USDA-FSA
DNR
USGS
Alliance of Indiana Rural Water
Indiana AWWA
The Nature Conservancy
Alliance of Soil & Water Conservation District
|
| Funding: |
Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)
|
| Issue: |
Indiana Watershed Groups, County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, County Farm Service Agency & Natural Resource Conservation Service offices, Water Utilities, Water Focused Associations and Organizations, State agencies and other groups are often requested to give presentations to area schools, civic groups, field days, conferences and watershed events on water quality topics. Finding qualified people to put together a presentation, man a booth for 1-2 days or even do a presentation for a few hours can be a daunting task for small county offices, watershed groups, and water utilities. Having multiple groups giving different messages on different water topics doesn’t give a clear concise message to Indiana residents on how to protect our water resources. Planning for these efforts is necessary before undertaking such a monumental project as the creation of mobile educational units can be daunting and burdensome on the hosting agency. |
| Objective: |
To build partnerships throughout the state of Indiana that would support the development of the Water Quality On Wheels educational mobile unit, determine the practicality and feasibility of such a unit, and develop a unified educational program centered around water quality and actions for improvement. |
| Approach: |
Hire a coordinator;
Set up milestone, goals, & timelines;
Outreach to interested participants and supporters;
Creation of Steering Committee;
Planning Steps:
- Survey for use and interest statistics,
- Deploy survey,
- Research on Display types, messaging needs vs survey results,
- Develop or gather displays for use,
- Develop survey for programming surrounding displays,
- Finalize programming,
- Cost analysis,
- O& M considerations;
Quarterly reporting for grant;
Seek out additional funding options for displays and any findings. |
| Products: |
Survey results and feedback about practicality and use;
Proof of Concept for Water Educational Displays(3 minimum);
Programming surrounding mobile unit and educational displays;
Content delivery at 20 events;
Steering committee meetings monthly for 2 years (24 total);
Planning and feasibility document;
Promotional and advertisement; |
| Benefits: |
Connecting people, businesses, and communities through local surface and groundwater education and action, making us all part of the solution for clean, sustainable water resources.
IGWS exposure as a partner and source of information for watershed groups, Ag groups, water providers, ect. |
