It's Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish {The Groundwater Foundation's Tools and Resources}

Are you a... 

• Girl Scout
• Future Farmer of America member
• Family, Career and Community Leaders of America member
• or just looking for a way to get involved locally with groundwater conservation and protection?

Look no further than The Groundwater Foundation's downloadable tools and resources.

Whether you are looking to get involved in teaching younger students about groundwater, learning about pharmaceuticals and personal care products in water, or holding a public awareness campaign, The Groundwater Foundation's tools and resources has you covered!

The tools and resources featured are ready-to-go and include the needed materials (i.e. PowerPoint presentations, fact sheets, hand-outs, etc.).

Frannie is going to use the Training About Protecting the Source Manual to teach the younger fish at her school how to protect their drinking water source. The hands-on activities in the manual use The Groundwater Foundation's Awesome Aquifer Kit to demonstrate potential sources of groundwater contamination, like improperly abandoned wells, over-applied fertilizer, leaking underground storage tanks, and improperly operated landfills.

Be sure to check out the rest of The Groundwater Foundation's website for other cool ideas of how you can get involved with water conservation and protection!

Share with The Groundwater Foundation how you will utilize these tools and resources in your community!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish {Giving Thanks for Groundwater}

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Frannie wants to give thanks to all the folks that work hard to protect and conserve groundwater and surface water. Frannie decided to make thank you cards to send to a few of these organizations in her local community, including:

• Department of Environmental Quality
• local Natural Resources District
• local Groundwater Guardian team

You can do the same too! Find out what agencies and organizations work year round in your local area to protect water and make them thank you cards! Find local environmental agencies by state here.

Here's what you need:

• Construction paper
• Markers, crayons, colored pencils, paint, etc.
• Envelopes
• Stamps

Here's what you do:
1. Fold your paper in half to make a card.

2. Frannie made a turkey on the cover of her card, get as creative as you want with your thank you cards!

3. Write a personal thank you note on the inside.

4. Mail the thank you letter.

Frannie wishes you a happy Thanksgiving!

Important dates 
The Groundwater Foundation's holiday shop information
Order fulfillment and shipping will not be available during the following dates:

• November 22 - 27, 2016
• December 22, 2016 - January 3, 2017

It's Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish {You be the Judge}

This week Frannie wants to share a fun activity that you can do with your class or with your extracurricular group! This activity, called "You be the Judge," is all about problem solving skills and water management.

Every day we make decisions - on what to wear, what to eat, etc. Many of the decisions we make each day have an impact on the environment, for example - using a reusable bag or a disposable one, taking a short shower or a long one. 

Water resource managers and community leaders also make decisions each day. Should water use be restricted? Should a certain amount of water be allocated to certain people or to everyone? In this activity, you will be provided scenarios and you get to decide who should get the water. You be the judge!

Here's what you need:

• Pitcher filled with water
• Cups for each participant
• Water use cards - you can copy or print the cards found in the activity instructions or make posters representing different water uses
• Scissors 
• Poster board (optional)
• Markers (optional)  

Here's what you do:   
1. Fill a pitcher with water. Make sure there is a limited amount of water so that not all cups can be filled.

2. Give each participant a cup.

3. Pass around the pitcher so each participant can fill their cup. A full cup represents enough water for the participants to meet their water needs.

4. Sometimes there is not enough water available for everyone's needs - in times of drought for example. Ask the participants to express how they feel.

5. Ask what they could do to make sure they all get water.

6. Repeat steps 1-5, this time with water allocations. Choose one or combine both of the following options:

• First in time, first in right. Have the participants arrange themselves in order by their birth date.   
• Use the water use cards found in the activity instructions to determine how the water is distributed. Randomly pass out the cards. Participants can use the information on the cards to discuss and campaign for more water or why others should get more and some should get less.

7. Discus the results, other ways the water could be allocated, and what the participants learned about water use. 

• Those with more important uses get more. Who decides what's more important?
• Equal shares, everyone gets some but some will get less than what they need.
• Apply water restrictions and use water conservation practices to reduce the amount needed/used.

Share what you learned with The Groundwater Foundation!