by Ana Maria Ruiz Brown
The Rio Grande river and the enthusiasm and dedication of high-school students from the United States and Mexico were showcased at the May 2nd Annual Student Congress of "Project del Rio", a cross-border environmental educational project to study the water quality of the Rio Grande. The director and founder of the program, Lisa LaRoque, brought together students who live along the Rio Grande from Colorado State down to El Paso, Texas and Cd. Juarez to present their findings in a public forum at the Las Cruces Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. The students had been working for many months, and sometimes years, on different projects focused on the river and water quality. All the projects presented were designed to keep the Rio Grande clean and make people aware of pollution problems in the river, as well as some easy ways to save water in our homes. Those schools with the best designed projects will be rewarded with a camping and rafting trip to Big Bend National Park in Texas through which the Rio Grande flows.
Project del Rio has been working with schools along the Rio Grande for seven years. Currently 65 schools from southern Colorado to Brownsville/Matamoros participate in the program. Of those, 25 schools are in Mexico, 25 are in Texas and 15 are in New Mexico and Colorado. The recent Annual Congress held in Las Cruces will be followed by another Congress held in mid-May for the lower Rio Grande Valley schools stretching from Del Rio/Acuna to Brownsville/Matamoros.
Following are examples of projects presented at the event in Las Cruces:
The Preparatoria Cultura (high school) from Juarez started participating in seminars organized by the Colegio de la Frontera (College of the Border, Colef) and the Junta Municipal de Agua y Sanaemiento (Municipal Agency on Water and Health, JMAS). After they learned about the problems and difficulties in Juarez involved in bringing drinking water to their houses, they decided to share this knowledge with other people. These students focussed on the youngest school population in the city: first-grade kids. About 5000 students visited 18 schools giving talks about how students and their families can save and take care of water. Each talk lasted from 30 to 40 minutes. Their goal was to educate these young students who can influence older people and who are the city's future.
The Centennial High School from San Luis, Colorado presented with great professionalism all the work and research they had done to make people aware of the actual problems the river is facing now. Their project started since 1992. They spoke about the destruction of La Sierra and resulting erosion problems, the Taylor Ranch - a large tract of private property that continues logging trees and hurting the river ecosystem, and a nearby gold mine that causes cyanide leaks. The students regularly checked the river for alkalinity, hardness, dissolved oxygen and other chemical factors. As solutions to the problems they discovered, they cited their River Watch program, observation of the irrigation ditches, and establishing talks with their county commissioners to stop some of the problems.
Students from Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque, NM discovered that most of the pollution particles, like car oil and antifreeze, they were finding in the river came from the sewer. Their main goal was to make people aware of this problem. They worked together on the creation of flyers to post in grocery stores, placed newspaper ads, and worked on different activities to make some money which they donated to the "Nature Center." This association is concentrating its efforts on helping to combat residential dumping into city sewers and drains.
Helen Middle School presented a very original and practical idea: Using the paper sacks from grocery stores, they wrote colorful messages on them to broadcast information widely and educate the community. For example, they ask people to stop swimming in the river, and to put trash in trash containers. Also they are trying to get more financial support from the city so that students can continue with this educational project was well as testing the water of the river.
Conalep II, another high school from Juarez, worked on a short term project to post flyers asking people to be careful with the vital and natural resource - water. They have planned in the longer run to ask their government to construct a recycling plant. Conalep II students traveled to the Student Congress on their own, displaying a lot of enthusiasm and dedication even when they didn't have support from the government nor from their teachers. Thanks to Alma Galván, in charge of the Project del Rio in Juarez, they were able to present their efforts in the student congress.
20 schools of the 40 schools participating in the recent Upper Rio Grande congress entered the competition for the camping/raft trip to be awarded after the Lower Rio Grande Congress concludes its competition. 15 schools are expected to enter that competition.
The U.S. office of Project del Rio is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico and can be reached at 505-522-7511. Their mailing address is 1494 South Solano Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88001.
Sources: Proceedings of the Upper Rio Grande Student Congress of Project del Rio, and Lisa LaRocque, Director