Blog
Browse this page for blog postings related to middle- and high-school-teacher Adventure Learning workshops taking place across Idaho. Use the widgets to the right (or at bottom of this page, for smaller devices) to filter blog posts.
Water managment
I have not been in the area long. I have always come up here in the summers and I have never seen anything like the high water levels. from my understanding the flooding this year has been soemthing that this area has never encountered. What kind of things are being done to prevent this from happing next year?The Boise area is known for its beautiful area and the ability to enjoy the water/greenbelt.
Watershed Management
TThe Boise River Watershed (and other watersheds) have existed before us and would continue to exist without us. The city of Boise and surrounding cities however would not exist without the Boise River and the irrigation engineering that enabled so many to develop agricultural land within the Treasure Valley. Learning about the history of the Boise River, the irrigation system and ensuing development of the cities of Treasure Valley has been very interesting. In the 1860's Boise was just a midway location between the two growing mining towns of Idaho City and Silver City. Some settled... more
Lessons from the Past. All the stakeholders of our water
We were visited by "Mary Hallock Foote" played by Janet Worthington, to give a bio of her and her husband's life. Arthur Dewitt Foote was credited with creating the New York Canal enabling the Treasure Valley to irrigate. Wow, creating the lush valley we have today. Living in this environment, fires are a huge concern. We did an activity simulating forests burning. Fabiola and I have done these in our classrooms. I had my first experience of having a presenter in The (hot) Springs with the topic of geothermal in general and Warm Springs. I had no idea of the complexity of the... more
How does our water management affect our watershed and the availability of water?
The management of our watershed is critical to availability of water and to the basic quality of our lives. I had no clue as to the complexity of getting water out to farmers cities, towns and just everyone. I did not realize just how many stake holders their are involved in the process of deciding how much to hold back, how much to let out and how much to release. It was amazing to find how many agencies and people are involved in making these decisions. The Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corp of Engineers and the Boise Project Board of Control, all have a say in what happens. Usually... more
How does our water management affect our watershed and the availability of water?
The management of our watershed is critical to availability of water and to the basic quality of our lives. I had no clue as to the complexity of getting water out to farmers cities, towns and just everyone. I did not realize just how many stake holders their are involved in the process of deciding how much to hold back, how much to let out and how much to release. It was amazing to find how many agencies and people are involved in making these decisions. The Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corp of Engineers and the Boise Project Board of Control, all have a say in what happens. Usually... more
Acid Mine Drainage
Surface area is sometimes a difficult process to understand. Today we measured the surface area of some sponges and we then made cuts to them and measured the increase. It was difficult for some as it was pretty early in the morning. We weren't quite sure where this activity was going. Idaho City is a sprawled out community in the Boise National Forest. It has a long history of gold and silver mining since its incorporation in 1862. It is very evident of this as you drive up highway 21 from Boise. It is 36 miles of twisting highway to Idaho City. As you near the city you will... more