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FINAL REPORT - FORM E PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND EDUCATION FUND ROUND 10 CONTRACT NUMBER P96-21 PROJECT NAME Drayton Harbor Watershed School and Community Partnership Program PROJECT LEAD'S NAME Becky Peterson PHONE 738-2531 CONTRACTOR'S NAME AND ADDRESS: WSU Cooperative Extension - Whatcom Co. 1000 N. Forest Street Bellingham, WA 98225 SECTION I: Project Description Issue(s) Addressed by Project: Nonpoint Pollution in Drayton Harbor Goals and Objectives: Goal Through education and service learning projects involving Blaine School District teachers, students, and their families, prompt local residents to change behaviors and take action to reduce and prevent nonpoint source pollution in Drayton Harbor. Objectives 1. Recruit/train at least 15 Watershed Masters and monitor trainees' community service activities; 2. Organize/conduct one stream restoration project; 3. Organize/conduct water quality monitoring on at least one site; 4. Organize/conduct one community-wide beach or riparian zone cleanup event; 5. Organize/conduct storm drain stenciling activities; 6. Organize/conduct at least two natural history field trips; 7. Organize/conduct field trip to sewage treatment plant; and, 8. Organize/conduct/monitor home learning activities. Target Audience(s) for Project: Schoolchildren, parents, teachers, and community members Geographic Area(s) for Project: Drayton Harbor Watershed - includes an approximately 52 square-mile area with rural, agricultural, and urban land uses located on the US/Canada boundary in the northwest corner of Whatcom County. Drayton Harbor empties into Boundary Bay. Time Line (start/completion dates): September 7, 1996 through May 15, 1997 Number of Staff: Paid: Equivalent of 1 FTE from 9/7/96 through 12/31/96
Equivalent of .75 FTE from 1/1/97 through 5/15/97 Volunteer: Varied during the project Total Hours Worked Over Term Paid Staff: Approximately 1100 hours. Volunteer: Approximately 343 hours not counting parents that participated/assisted with the activities. The listed hours are from the Watershed Master volunteers, community members, and business people that were involved in the different aspects of the program. SECTION IIA: Achievement of Goals and Objectives Please examine each goal and its related objectives and summarize your success in meeting them. The objectives related to the overall project goal stated above and the success in meeting those objectives are summarized below: Objective 1 - Recruit/train at least 15 Watershed Masters and monitor trainees' community service activities. Although this objective fell slightly short in the total number of Watershed Masters being trained, overall the objective was successfully met in that all 11 individuals that signed up for the program completed the 30 hours of training (A zero dropout rate). In addition, with the exception of 2 individuals, all of the recruits reside in the Drayton Harbor watershed. Knowing more about their watershed and having participated in activities located there will likely instil a greater sense of community and environmental stewardship in these individuals. Objective 2 - Organize/conduct one stream restoration project. A stream restoration project was successfully completed on a section of Dakota Creek which drains to Drayton Harbor. The project was done in conjunction with Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association. In addition, a second stream restoration project was initiated on one of the Watershed Master Volunteer's hobby farm that was not originally proposed in the project objectives. This was a stream that drains to Drayton Harbor and is located over the City of Blaine's groundwater supply. A third project not identified in the objectives is a 2nd Grade 'adopt-a-wetland' project on US Postal Service property that is within walking distance of the Blaine Primary School. Approximately 134 trees were planted at this disturbed site. It is an ongoing, long-term project for the 2nd grade classes at Blaine Primary School. Objective 3 - Organize/conduct water quality monitoring on at least one site. One of the Watershed Masters Volunteers is using his farm as a location for Blaine High School students to monitor water quality in a drainage that goes through the volunteers property. The goal of the monitoring program is to measure water quality before and after BMPs are installed. This will be an ongoing project with the Blaine High School and the Watershed Master volunteer. Objective 4 - Organize/conduct one community-wide beach or riparian zone cleanup event. A cleanup was conducted by a 2nd grade class and parent volunteers at the 'adopt-a-wetland' site. Objective 5 - Organize/conduct storm drain stenciling activities. An Earth Day storm drain stenciling activity was conducted with a 2nd grade class at Blaine Primary School and covered storm drains in the central Blaine area that drained to their wetland and nearby Cain Creek, which drains to Boundary Bay. After stenciling, the kids had a picnic lunch at their wetland site. Several parents participated in the Earth Day activity. Objective 6 - Organize/conduct at least two natural history field trips. A number of field trips were completed throughout the project. The Watershed Master training program began with a "boating" field trip on the historic Plover. Going on a boat into Drayton Harbor provided an unique opportunity to introduce Watershed Master participants to the concept of watersheds and nonpoint pollution. The volunteer training also included a wetland field trip to look at different types of wetlands and a stream field trip for the purpose of discussing riparian areas, sampling macroinvertebrates, and demonstrating water monitoring techniques. Field trips were also conducted for all of the 2nd grade classes at the Blaine Primary School. The 10th and 11th grade biology students also participated in the field trips as "tutors" for the 2nd graders. Objective 7 - Organize/conduct field trip to sewage treatment plant. A trip to the sewage treatment was not conducted.
Objective 8 - Organize/conduct/monitor home learning activities. This objective was not completed. SECTION IIB: Problems and Challenges Please describe the problems or challenges you faced in completing this project and how you dealt with the problems. (Remember, your's is a pilot project and a certain amount of "trial and error" was expected. This is a particular kind of information which will be very helpful to those who might want to replicate your project.) The first challenge encountered with the project was trying to recruit individuals that would commit to a 30 hour volunteer training program during the holidays. Initially the training was scheduled to start in October but due to unanticipated events, later than planned contract signing and change in project staff, the project got a late start. This led to the training starting over a month later which put it after Thanksgiving and running into Christmas and New Years. The only way to meet this challenge was to assure participants that there would be a generous break at the holidays. Had it not been the holiday season, I believe the number of recruits would have been significantly higher. In addition to the scheduling of the training, the late start on the project meant there was an immediate need to begin planning and recruiting for the training. This did not provide an opportunity to avail myself to the numerous parent/school functions to present the training program and thus recruit more parents. A different challenge was working with the various teachers. Although initially there appeared to be significant interest in the program by several teachers, it was a little difficult to solicit their involvement once the project was underway. Timing (getting close to the holidays) may have been a major factor in why the teachers that initially appeared interested in the project later were not as committed to participating. In addition, two of the teachers that were identified in the proposal as being committed were no longer in the Blaine school system. The challenge was overcome by making contact with other teachers that were not initially part of the project proposal but were interested in classroom activities or field events. Once activities started, more teachers became interested in what was going on with the project. SECTION III: Success Please describe any unanticipated successes (above the achievement of goals and objectives) that you achieved in completing this project. One of the successes was the field trips with the 2nd grade classes at the Blaine Primary School. Initially we did not plan to include the high school biology students in the activity. The idea of a "buddy plan" came later. The same high school students were present for all three days so they became familiar with the routine and could be counted on to get the kids from one station to the next. I think the inclusion of the high school students in the activity was a positive addition. It provided the older kids with some sense of responsibility to assist the younger kids in the learning activities at each of the stations. The younger kids enjoyed having an older buddy to help them out. This was evident on the last day when recognition was given to the high school kids by the 2nd graders for participating in the field days; the younger kids searched out their "buddy" to present them with a card they made. In addition to the personal experiences each of the students gained, the field trips provided the classes with their first opportunity to use the Blaine School District's nature area as an outdoor classroom. The experience was a positive one for both the 2nd grade teachers and the high school biology teacher. As a result of their experience, one of the 2nd grade teachers and the high school biology teacher are planning on attending a Blaine School District meeting to make a presentation on the field days. The two teachers are discussing the possibility of making the field days an annual event and will be requesting that the School District provide the money for bus expenses for the extra field trip. A second unanticipated success was the support of the US Postal Service to allow the 2nd graders to initiate a wetland restoration project on their property. The wetland is a small bioswale that receives stormwater from the parking lots of the post office and a business center. It's a very disturbed site and the 2nd grade class is making an effort to turn it into a site that will attract wildlife. It will be a long-term project for the 2nd graders at Blaine Primary School. The Blaine Postmaster has been very supportive and committed to assisting in whatever way he is able. Other successes were the activities the Watershed Master volunteers took on for community education that were not identified as objectives in this project.
In addition to the activities undertaken during the project time frame, the Watershed Master volunteers are planning additional activities that will occur throughout the summer months.
SECTION IV: Financial Amount of Contract $25,000 Amount Spent Roughly $21,000 (WSU maintains the budget so I do not have final numbers) Amount of Matching Funds Generated/Leveraged Approx. $3500 Was the amount adequate for the scope of work outlined in the contract? (Not to be confused with the work outlined in your proposal, X Yes No describe: SECTION V: Impact Number of people directly reached through the program (i.e., actual participants, audiences, personal involvement): 313 individuals (although this is a single count of individuals, a number of them were involved in more than one activity) Estimated number of people indirectly reached through the project (i.e., those contacted by actual participants, receiving a newsletter, viewing a display): 6,500
In addition to the above estimate, an article ran in the Blaine Northern Light newspaper when the individuals participating in the training took their introductory trip on the Plover. I do not know the circulation numbers for the Northern Light. However, it would likely overlap with the above number anyway since it covers the same area as newsletters and other efforts that covered the program. Names of organizations, institutions and business that were involved in your project: Blaine Primary School Blaine High School Whatcom Maritime Museum City of Blaine Planning Department City of Blaine Public Works Dakota Fisheries Drayton Harbor Oyster Co. Hirsch Consulting Services Institute for Watershed Studies, WWU Lummi Fisheries Department Madrona Corporation Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association Tull, Langabeer, and Cullier US Postal Service, Blaine Station Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Washington State Department of Health Whatcom County Conservation District Whatcom County Health Department Whatcom County Planning Department WSU Cooperative Extension, Snohomish County SECTION VI: Future After the completion date the work done on this project will: (check one) be discontinued be continued with other source(s) of funding please identify: X other (please explain) Most of the project elements will not continue with the exception of the following possibilities: - The 2nd grade field trips may become annual events if the School District provides buses. - The restoration of the disturbed wetland site will continue to the extent it is possible without financial and outside staff support. - Watershed Masters will continue "paying back" some hours through community and school events. I will support them on a volunteer basis as my time allows. - I will continue to provide support to classroom teachers that request equipment/supplies (ie, monitoring equipment, tools, etc.) that will be stored at the WSU Cooperative Extension office and which were purchased with the PIE grant. Have you done anything to assist replication of the project? X Yes No If yes, what? Efforts will not necessarily be for replication but continuation of the project. Efforts will involve looking for other funding sources. Do you anticipate that the results of your project's work will be used by others? X Yes No If yes, by whom? In addition to the efforts being made by individuals to continue specific components of the project, the people involved in the project will remain spokespersons for practices that reduce nonpoint sources of pollution in Drayton Harbor. SECTION VIII: Summary Please describe, if possible, the concrete impacts your project has had on water quality of Puget Sound. What is now a measurable effect of your project (i.e., less storm water runoff, rehabilitated stream bed). If there are not measurable results, please describe what is now happening or has happened because of your project. The measurable effects are the two restoration projects on streams that drain to Drayton Harbor. Both restoration projects included plantings and fencing; both of which will eliminate animal access to the stream. Ultimately, helping to reduce coliform, nutrient, and sediment loadings to Drayton Harbor. Drayton Harbor drains to Semiahmoo/Boundary Bay which drains to the Strait. The immeasurable effects include increasing individuals' awareness of water quality issues and practices they can adopt that help to reduce nonpoint source pollution. An undeterminable number of people will have been reached through the schools continuation of some of the activities that were initiated through this project such as the field trips to the Blaine Nature Area, the monitoring of the farm site pre- and post- BMP installation, and the 2nd grade 'adopt-a-wetland' site. Additional spin-off benefits of this project that are immeasurable are those that result from the teachers who went through the training to be Watershed Master volunteers, taking the information they gained through the training back into their classrooms. Please rank how helpful the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority staff was to you in completing your project.
Not helpful Very helpful 1 2 3 4 What are other things you think PSWQA staff could have done to assist you in successful project completion? I can't imagine how PSWQA staff could have been any more supportive. |