Think Blue Maine — Clean Water Starts with you!

Educator and Citizen Groups

Join an existing grassroots program:

In the State of Maine there are numerous grassroots organizations that you can become a member of to explore the natural wonders of Maine and to help keep them clean. Find more information on local, state-wide, and national organizations or programs focused on waterbodies and their watersheds.

• Citizen Action — Maine DEP

• Androscoggin Watershed
• Androscoggin River Watershed Council
• Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District
• Great Works River Watershed Coalition
• Friends of the Casco Bay
• Friends of the Presumpscot River
• Friends of the Royal River
• Maine Shore Stewards
• Sabattus Pond Watershed
• Spruce Creek Association
• Taylor Pond Association
• York Rivers Association

Organize a grassroots program:

The Maine Stream Team Program (MSTP) is a project dedicated to assisting local citizens and grassroot organizations who are interested in being stewards of their local stream resources. The program serves as a clearinghouse of stream-related information, acts as a catalyst for networking and partnering amongst local stream and river groups, and provides reference materials and training opportunities to advance stream protection efforts throughout the state. A "stream team" is a group of individuals that have banded together to learn about and protect their local stream or river. Teams may be comprised of local residents, students/teachers, conservation organization members, or anybody else who cares about a particular stream. What a team decides to do and how much time they want to spend doing it is all up to them members of that team.

The Maine Stream Team Program has developed tools and services such as a membership database (to facilitate networking), a collection of information resources (brochures, videos, books), advice (via the web, phone, or email), an Internet website, a newsletter, and workshops for various stream stewardship activities. The MSTP is continually evolving and working towards offering more services as they become available. These tools will continually evolve to serve your team better.

Check out the Maine Stream Team Program for more information.

Classroom Stormwater Models

The Maine DEP has watershed models that can be used as an interactive learning tool in the classroom. A great supplement to a water-based curriculum, the Enviroscape watershed model is a plastic model that can be used to discuss topics such as watersheds, stormwater pollution, vegetated buffers and land use. A groundwater model is also available.

To make arrangements for a presentation/demonstration contact the Maine DEP:
Presque Isle:Kathy Hoppe
Augusta: Barb Welch
Marianne Dubois (Groundwater model)

Visit the Maine DEP for more fun Environmental Lesson Plans.

Educating Young People About Water:

The Educating Young People About Water (EYPAW) Guides and the Water Curricula Database provide assistance for developing a community-based, youth water education program. These resources target youth and link educators to key community members to build partnerships to meet common water education goals. EYPAW materials will help you to work in partnership with local experts, develop a program strategy appropriate to your situation, set goals and find materials to match your program plan, and to train others to design community-based, youth water programs.

EYPAW Guides, Video, and Curricula >>

Project Wet

Project Wet (Water Education for Teachers) is a non-profit program and publisher for educators and young people (ages 5-18). The program facilitates and promotes awareness, appreciation, knowledge, and stewardship of water resources through the dissemination of classroom-ready teaching aids and the establishment of internationally sponsored Project WET programs. For more information visit Project Wet.

Project WILD

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is the Maine sponsor of Project WILD an award-winning program. Workshops are offered to educators interested in integrating wildlife and conservation education into their daily lesson plans. For more information visit Project WILD.

Build your own aquifer classroom project:

This one-two hour classroom project will teach youth how water is stored in an aquifer, how groundwater can become contaminated, and how this contamination ends up in the drinking water well. Ultimately, students should get a clear understanding of what happens above the ground can potentially end up in the drinking water below the ground. For more information, visit the Environmental Protection Agency.

Use an existing slide show:

Use this prepared slideshow to describe a watershed to your audience.

Coordinate a storm drain stenciling effort:

A storm drain stenciling project consists of stenciling a message next to the street drain reminding people "Keep it Clean" - Drains to River" with the image of a duck. (Stencils are also available for lake, stream, bay, groundwater, ocean or simply "protect your water".) The Maine DEP has a number of stencils that can be loaned out to groups who are interested in doing a stenciling project. Contact Kathy Hoppe for details. For more information about and helpful tips for coordinating this type of service project, download a stencil starter kit or check out the following websites:
www.msd.st-louis.mo.us/commoutreach/drainstenciling/ www.epa.gov/adopt/patch/html/guidelines.html

Plan a stream/beach clean-up:

Conducting a stream, river or beach clean-up is a great community service project. All clean-ups should be well-planned and coordinated. For helpful tips on how to make your clean-up a safe and fun success, check out the Environmental Protection Agency.

Get some funding:

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection offers grants to educators to help with watershed protection projects. Check out the following website:
www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/docgrant/watershed/index.htm