Cleaning up the river

By Mary Robb

Water is among our most important resources. Cities and schools throughout the Great Plains recognize this fact and are doing their best to promote awareness of the vital place water and waterways hold in our ecosystem.

Two events were held in May 2009 to promote water awareness and to clean up key rivers in the Great Plains.

Missouri River Watershed School Festival

The Missouri River Watershed School Festival was held on Friday, May 8 for area schools to attend. Area schools were sent invitations to attend the event.

Students attended six 20-minute sessions during the morning. Each of the sessions were hands-on, showing students how to identify factors that can cause changes in stability of populations, communities and ecosystems along the Missouri River. The sessions also focused on how organisms are linked to one another and the environment, the various structures and processes of the Earth system, and how human activity has changed the land, the river and the atmosphere. The students had a “passport” with them and received a sticker from the presenter to show that they attended; they also needed to answer a question about that presentation to show what they learned at each stop.

Sessions included fossils, a tank of the fish of the Missouri River, invasive species of the river, water quality demos, a rain simulator, a ground water demo and the Missouri River Ecosystem Restoration Plan.

The ages of students that came to the event were seventh grade and up.

The following is a response to the event from one of the teachers who attended with her seventh-grade class: “Wow! It was a great morning and a fantastic ‘First Festival!’ My students and I thank you for all the efforts in providing this valuable learning experience. As a teacher I especially appreciated the ‘Passport Book’ with the questions for response. It will be great review for our students and aid in their assignment for Monday. They are writing a summary of each session they attended. Bravo to all the presenters and their efforts. Thanks again for all you do for kids and our beautiful Missouri River.”

Sixth annual Missouri River Clean-up

National Park Service personnel check over a load to be picked up along the Missouri River during the sixth annual Missouri River Clean-up. (Paul Lepisto) In conjunction with the Missouri River Watershed School Festival, the sixth annual Missouri River Clean-up was held the following Saturday, May 9. A number of organizations that support having a clean waterway teamed up with community volunteers from both sides of the river for this year’s cleanup effort. Around 50 students who had attended the Missouri River Watershed School Festival on Friday returned on Saturday to help with the Missouri River Clean-up, bringing members of their families with them.

Registration began at 8 a.m. in the picnic shelter by the boat launch at the east end of Riverside Park in Yankton, S.D. There was a safety talk prior to the start of the event. Volunteers received transportation to their segment of the river to clean. Volunteers were then split into groups, and each group received a map designating the target clean-up area. The cleanup started at 9 a.m., continuing until noon, and covered both banks of the river for a few miles up and downstream from Yankton.

The results were impressive (or dismaying): 2.34 tons of garbage, 4.80 tons of metal and 23 tires were removed from the banks of the Missouri River by the nearly 200 volunteers during the morning on Saturday.

Many, many people came together for these events to happen. Organizers and donators of both events include the Missouri River Relief, Missouri River National Park Service, City of Yankton, Izaak Walton League, Keep Yankton Beautiful, Missouri River Futures, Missouri River Institute, Lewis & Clark NRD, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, South Dakota Game Fish and Parks, South Dakota State University, South Dakota Department of Corrections–Yankton Minimum Unit, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, University of South Dakota, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Eisenbraun & Associates, Emergency Medical Technicians, Hy-Vee, Culligan Water, Cimpl’s, Clark’s Rental, Chesterman’s, Embroidery and Screen Works, Prairie Fire Newspaper, Bob’s Candy, Quizno’s, Frito-Lay, Bomgaars, Bierschbach Inc., Fastenal Inc., Tracey Blassl, Mount Marty College, Hanson Briggs Advertising, Hansen Locksmithing, KVHT Radio and KMEG TV.

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