BPA takes kids wading in Icicle Creek to teach about healthy streams and salmon survival 

Leavenworth, Wash. -  Healthy spawning streams are critical to salmon survival and the overall vitality of the Columbia River ecosystem. That’s why volunteers from the Bonneville Power Administration enjoy showing schoolchildren firsthand what healthy  salmon habitat looks like, which is the goal of the “Kids in the Creek” program.

Today and tomorrow, an anticipated 3,000 third- through sixth-grade students from about 60 schools throughout the Wenatchee Valley will put on rubber waders to hunt for signs of a healthy river. BPA volunteers will serve as guides, taking the kids into Icicle Creek near Leavenworth, Wash., to learn what effect a healthy stream environment has on salmon. BPA conducts this educational outreach effort in connection with the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival.

What:    Third- through sixth-grade students in rubber waders looking under rocks 
             and around plants for examples of insect life found in healthy streams.
             They’ll use “bug cards” to aid in identification.

When:    Thursday, Sept. 17, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
              Friday, Sept. 18, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Where:   Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, 12790 Fish Hatchery Road,
              Leavenworth, Wash.

The following Central Washington cities plan to send student groups: Almira, Cashmere, Chelan, East Wenatchee, Entiat, Leavenworth, Orondo, Oroville, Royal City, Selah, Tonasket, Wenatchee, Wilson Creek. About 60 schools are expected to participate.  BPA employee volunteers have been conducting "Kids in the Creek" for Wenatchee Valley students since 1993.

“Today, our hydropower system is helping us add new renewable energy from wind and solar into the electric grid,” said Tom Osborn, a BPA mechanical engineer from Walla Walla who volunteers with the program. Osborn said he wants to help students understand how the river, the electrical system and their daily lives are intertwined.

Volunteer David Byrnes, a fish and wildlife project manager in the BPA Portland office, says, “It’s great being able to help young kids excited about learning. It’s also an opportunity to learn more about aquatic insects myself,” says Byrnes. “This gives kids the opportunity to see the food chain and learn that if certain insects are present, you’re likely to have a higher level of nutrition.  And that suggests the stream is going to be supportive for the fish.” 

For directions and hatchery details, visit: www.fws.gov/leavenworth/lvisit.htm. For details about the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, visit: www.salmonfest.org.

BPA is a not-for-profit federal electric utility that operates a high-voltage transmission grid comprising more than 15,000 miles of lines and associated substations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.  It also markets more than a third of the electricity consumed in the Pacific Northwest. The power is produced at 31 federal dams operated by the U.S. Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation and one nuclear plant in the Northwest and is sold to more than 140 Northwest utilities. BPA purchases power from seven wind projects and has more than 2,200 megawatts of wind interconnected to its transmission system. 

 ###

printer friendly