27th annual Watershed Education Summit takes place in El Dorado County

EL DORADO COUNTY — Students in the Sierra Foothills took their skills to the field this week during the 27th annual Watershed Education Summit (WES) in El Dorado County.

"We actually came to this site in 1997 and it was pretty much a mess. Upstream from us, there were beds, bottles, cans. It was a human disaster," Stan Iverson, founder of the summit, said.

Iverson said WES is a partnership between the El Dorado and Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts, the U.S. Forest Service and local high schools.

"They get to run the protocols, they get to see how ecology is done in the field, they get to collect the data, they get to look at the data, and teachers like me get to bring the data back to the classroom," Jenny O'Dette, teacher at Union Mine High School, said.

Around 60 students gathered for four days and tested water quality at three different streams. They also learn how to monitor watershed health and how trees impact water quality and overall landscape.

"iI's a learning experience but it also gives all of us so much more of an appreciation for what the adults out here do," Elizabeth Scott, senior at Union Mine High School, said.

Scott said she loved WES so much last year, that she came back this year.

Senior Josh Haley shares the same story.

"I was really curious in taking classroom science and putting it into the field and charting specifically for cross sections, the topography and slopes of the streams," Haley said.

WES allowed students and professionals to expand their skillset and build environmental awareness.

"It is so wonderful for a teacher to realize that something you created is still carrying on," Iverson said.

If you are interested in participating in WES next year, you can find more information by clicking here.