Friendly reminder: to earn the patches shown above, complete two activities from the booklet to earn your Ask Me About Groundwater patch. Get inspired and do more to earn your Let's Keep It Clean patch.
The Ambassador level focuses on fostering leadership skills and many of the activities are great first steps to potential Gold Award activities. Many activities featured in the Ambassador booklet are independent, research-based activities. Initially, girls can research their local groundwater and surface water resources to learn about the quality and quantity, and are then challenged to look to the future to foresee if their community faces any potential issues. Girls can also research point and nonpoint sources of pollution, as well as legislation including - the Clean Water Act or the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Ambassadors have a variety of activities to choose from after they have done their initial investigations. These activities include - problem solving hypothetical scenarios, interviewing a local leader, researching further into a local water issue, or learning about their local watershed. Girls can also do activities aimed at protecting source water: planning a Source Water Protection, Wellhead Protection, Groundwater Management, or similar type of plan for your community; making a Contaminant Source Inventory to identify potential water contamination risks.
Finally, girls are asked to take action! Ambassadors can help their community become a Groundwater Guardian or identify a Groundwater Guardian Green Site. Both of these are programs through The Groundwater Foundation that recognize efforts to protect groundwater. A Groundwater Guardian is a community that takes actions to protect groundwater and educate others about groundwater resources. A Groundwater Guardian Green Site is a business, school, golf course, or park that incorporates environmentally-friendly practices into their turf management. Girls can also volunteer their time with a local environmental group - order the booklet to get great ideas for Gold Award activities!
Frannie will explain how you can help your local community become a Groundwater Guardian Community. There are Groundwater Guardian communities all over the country. Click here to see the many benefits of being a Groundwater Guardian. Each community has a team of dedicated individuals that work to protect groundwater. Check out the Groundwater Guardian Profiles Directory to see if there is a team in your area and to find out what kind of actions are being taken across the country!
Instructions
1. Form your team! Team members should represent your community, try to get individuals involved from a variety of backgrounds. Frannie encourages getting representatives from each category:
-Business and/or Agriculture
-Education
-Local Government
-Citizen
This helps ensure that stakeholders, people who are interested or will be affected by the Groundwater Guardian team's actions, have a say in the actions.
It may be helpful to start by contacting your local Environmental Protection Agency or Department of Natural Resources. See if you can get an individual from one of these agencies to work with you, they may have contacts from the different categories that would be interested in joining your team as well.
2. Next, you will complete the Annual Entry Package, this includes
-Entry Form
-Team List
-Result-Oriented Activity Plan Forms
-Administrative Fee
The Groundwater Guardian Profiles Directory is a great place to find inspiration for your Result-Oriented Activities. You can always contact The Groundwater Foundation at guardian@groundwater.org if you need help filling out any forms.
3. Submit a Progress Report by August 31. This report shares information on the progress of each of a team's activities.
4. Once your community is designated, use the Groundwater Guardian logo in local publications and media opportunities to share your success locally.
5. Celebrate Groundwater Guardian accomplishments at The Groundwater Foundation's national conference. The conference is a fantastic opportunity to honor and meet individuals from other communities working toward the same goal!
Want to see more Ambassador activities? Click here. Are you in Nebraska? Check with your area's Juliette's Boutique!
Have you done an Ambassador activity and would like to share it? Click here!
This wraps up Frannie's "Let's Keep It Clean" program series. Check in next Wednesday for a new water-wise activity with Frannie!
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