The 2014 Scituate Reservoir Watershed Education Program

Scituate Reservoir Watershed Education Program is a Partnership Between: Providence Water & Northern Rhode Island Conservation District

www.LandWaterConnection.org

Story and Homework Booklet

Hello everybody! My name is Walter Splash, and I am a water droplet. I spend most of my time going back and forth between the clouds and the waters of Rhode Island, and I always meet lots of friends along the way. I just came home to the clouds after one of my most exciting adventures yet! All in one trip, I saw a forest, a huge reservoir, a water treatment plant, and a big city. I first fell from the clouds during an early morning rainstorm. Usually I land right on the ground, but today I landed on the top branches of a tree! The view was beautiful. I could see trees in

every direction, and what looked like a huge, clear lake in the distance. “Hello there! My name is Woody B. Woodland and I’m a white oak! Welcome to Woodland’s Water Purification Service!” rumbled the tree below me. Startled, I clung tightly to my leaf. “Hi Woody,” I squeaked out. “My name is Walter Splash. I’m a water droplet. What’s Woodland’s Water Purification service? I thought I was in the woods!” “You are in the woods,” he replied. “But these woods have a very important job to do. See that water over there that looks kind of like a big lake? Well it’s not just any lake. It’s the Scituate Reservoir, and it holds the water that most Rhode Islanders drink. Right now, you and I are in the Scituate Reservoir Watershed. That means that all of the water that falls in this watershed, unless it gets used up or evaporates, will end up in the Scituate Reservoir. You’re lucky to have fallen here! My family and I keep the water very clean in this watershed. Our strong roots hold the soil together so that it doesn’t wash into the water and make it mucky. The soil also keeps water droplets like you clean by removing the kinds of bacteria that make people sick, and chemicals called phosphates that come from soaps and detergents. There are lots trees like me in the woods around the Reservoir, so you water droplets pass through lots of soil that can make sure you are spotlessly

Walter Splash is a registered

trademark of Providence Water Supply Board, and

is used with permission

My new friend Woody is a White Oak. Have you ever seen white oak leaves on the ground or in a tree?

clean before you become drinking water. That water you see there in the Reservoir was recently named the second cleanest drinking water in the whole country!” “Wow, keeping drinking water clean sounds like a really big job,” I said. “It is, but it just comes naturally to me and my family,” said Woody. Another thing we do is use up lots of the nutrients that are carried by water. Nutrients are tiny little particles with fancy names like phosphorous, and they are food to plants like me just like hamburgers and carrots are food for people. We need nutrients to grow, and sometimes we get extra nutrients in the stormwater that ends up in my forest after running down the street from people’s farms and gardens. My family and I can use up those extra nutrients, and it’s a good thing we do. If they ended up in the Reservoir, little plants called algae, which also use them for food, could grow too fast and make the water very mucky.” “Wow!” I exclaimed. “I would love to see the Reservoir. Do you think that I will end up there?” “Maybe,” said Woody. “My family and I get very thirsty and use a lot of water, so you might get sucked up into our roots. Some water droplets also end up in private wells. That’s where the people who live near the reservoir, like the Gardeners who live on this land, get their drinking water. But either way, I know you’ll enjoy your stay in my woods. There are many interesting animals

Extra nutrients can end up in our water when waste from

pets or farm animals washes into a stream.

Box turtles, spotted salamanders, and

bald eagles are just some of the animals that call RI’s forests

home. Courtesy of USFWS

Courtesy of USDOT

that live here: bald eagles, beautiful dragonflies, and songbirds. Lots of woods like mine also have vernal pools in the springtime, where frogs, salamanders, and insects go to lay their eggs. I’m sure you’ll have a great time here!” “Thanks Woody!” I yelled back at my new friend as a wind gust carried me away. I landed on the ground, slid on my belly down a tree root, and before I knew it, everything was dark! It took me a few minutes to settle into my new surroundings, but once my eyes adjusted I saw lots of other water droplets. We were all slowly sinking down, surrounded by grains of sand, pieces of old leaves, roots, and tiny worms and insects. There were bacteria there, too. Some friendly bacteria help water droplets like me to stay clean by eating the particles that stick to us as we move across the ground. I was finally beginning to realize where I was when somebody grabbed my hand and said, “Hey there buddy! Welcome to the soil! I’m Maria the droplet. We must be headed for a well today. Want to head down to the groundwater together?” “Sure,” I said, “But I’m not sure that we’re going to a well. When I splashed down today I landed in a tree named Walter, and he told me that I might be going to the Scituate Reservoir.” “The Reservoir?” she gasped. “Wow! I’ve always wanted to end up in the Reservoir. Did you know that some of the water from the Reservoir gets to go to city called Providence?”

“I’ve heard about Providence!” I said. “It would be really neat to visit. Let’s see where the groundwater flow takes us.” Maria and I travelled through the soil together as part of the groundwater. Some of our water droplet friends got sucked up by tree roots, and others did

Maria and I travelled under the woods in the

groundwater, which is like the blue part of this

picture, until we reached the Scituate Reservoir

(picture courtesy of USGS)

Earthworms and other critters in the soil all help to keep water like me clean (photo courtesy of USFWS)

end up in private wells to be used by the people who live nearby. Maria and I just kept on going, however, while bacteria and soil particles scrubbed off any little pieces of pollution that stuck to us. We were squeaky clean by the time we popped our heads out into the Scituate Reservoir. “Wow! It’s just like I always dreamed!” said Diane as we started to swim around. We saw plants, fish and insects. There wasn’t very much algae, which are those tiny green plants and bacteria that can make water look dirty. Woody and his family had done a great job getting all of the water clean. Maria and I played in the Scituate Reservoir for a few weeks, slowly drifting from one side of the Reservoir to the other. Then, one day, we floated into a big pipe called an aqueduct. Maria and I wondered what was going on, until we heard a bouncy young droplet next to us say, “Hooray! The Purification Works! I love the Purification Works!” “What’s The Purification Works?” I asked. “Oh, excuse my rudeness! My name is Barry,” the new droplet introduced himself. “The Purification Works is where Providence Water gets us droplets very clean before we are sent off to Johnston, Cranston, or even the big city of Providence. It’s a lot of fun-just relax and enjoy yourselves!”

The Purification Works was like a great big amusement park for water droplets. First some chemicals were added to remove the dirt and dead leaves that floated with us from the reservoir. Then we went through the aerators, which are big fountains that get rid of chemicals that can hurt people or make water taste and smell yucky. We went through basins where more dirt was taken out of the water and filters where

We were all very clean by the time we got to the Reservoir!

The fish, like this bluegill, seemed very happy (photo

courtesy of USFWS).

The aerators were my favorite part of the purification works! I felt like I was flying,

and was so clean when I was done (picture courtesy of Providence Water)

teeny tiny particles were captured. Barry got scooped up by a scientist from Providence Water who was testing us to make sure we were clean enough to drink. At the very end, workers added some fluoride, which is a chemical that helps people’s teeth stay very strong. We spent a long time getting cleaned at the Purification Works, but pretty soon I found myself shooting through a pipe and out of a faucet. “Is this Providence?” I asked Diane. “I think so,” she said. “Look out the window at all of the buildings! I guess we’re not in a watershed anymore.” “Sure we are,” I corrected her. “We’re just not in the Scituate Reservoir watershed anymore. Cities are part of a watershed, too. Everywhere is! That’s why people who live in the city need to help take care of their watershed, just like people who live in the country. They can help by making sure not use more water than they need, by keeping yucky chemicals out of the street and away from storm drains, by cleaning up after their pets, and by putting their trash and recycling where it belongs. This part of the city is actually part of a very important watershed. Another droplet that I met in the pipe told me that we are in the Woonasquatucket River Watershed, and all of its water finds its way to the Atlantic Ocean.” “Wow,” said Diane. “Maybe we’ll end up in the ocean, too.” I hope I’ll get to visit the ocean someday, but that will have to wait for another adventure. This one ended when Diane and I were poured into a glass of water and used to water a houseplant. I didn’t get sucked up by the plant, though. I stayed on top of the soil and evaporated with lots of my water droplet friends. Now I am back home in the clouds, dreaming of what it must be like to visit the ocean. Maybe I’ll get to after the next rainstorm!

Providence was so neat! The river in this picture, the Providence River, flows all the way

to the ocean.

2014 Program Partners: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Five Star Restoration Grant Program; Forest Guild, Inc.; Providence Water; Northern Rhode Island Conservation District

Thanks for listening to my story! Now, work with an adult to do the activities on this page and learn more about water, the woods, and watersheds. Don’t

forget the back! When you’re done, bring this page back to your teacher.

Name_____________________________ Date______________________________

DIRECTIONS: Write the answers to five questions in the blanks below. All of the answers can be found in my story. The outlined letters will complete the sentence: “Trees help keep soil in place by using their big, strong __________.” Fill in the answer when you are done!

1. Phosphorous is one type of ________ that trees can use as food.

2. My new friend Woody is a white ______ tree.

3. People who live in Providence get their drinking water from the Scituate ________________.

4. Kids can help to keep drinking water clean by cleaning up after their ___________.

5. Maria and I started to get clean when we travelled through the _________ with the rest of the groundwater.

1. N _ _ _ _ N _

2. _ _

3. _ E _ _ _ V _ _

4. P _ _

5. S _ _

DIRECTIONS: Whether we live in the city or the country, all Rhode Islanders can

help to keep our water clean and our for-ests healthy. Circle the things that you

can do in YOUR neighborhood. Use blank spaces to add your own!

Clean up after our dogs and cats.

Use a fence to keep our farm animals from the stream.

Recycle paper, and use recycled paper for my homework.

Tell my friends and family about where our water

comes from

Plant a tree.

Keep trash and chemicals away from

storm drains.

Where in the Watershed am I? DIRECTIONS: Follow the instructions and use the map below to figure out which of Rhode Island’s watersheds YOU live in. Some watersheds are named after the place that their water ends up, while others are named after a river that flows through them. 1. Find the name of your city or town on the map. CIRCLE it. 2. Draw a STAR near the part of the town where your house or apartment is. If

you don’t know, ask an adult for help or try the website googlemaps.com. 3. Find the color of the part of the map where your house is on the LEGEND at

the top of the map. Put an X next to the color box on the legend. 4. Next to the color box is the name of your watershed. I live in the _________________________________________ watershed.