Connection to Boise Watershed

« Return to Blog

Submitted by Jenny Kaylor on Mon, 2017-07-10 00:00

Moving to Boise Idaho has transported me far from my native home of Harpswell, Maine- an island chain off the coast of Brunswick.  Ironically, I began teaching Oceanography at Rocky Mountain High School last year.  I guess my upbringing prepared me for this job more than most Idahoans but there was still a great deal more to learn!  Most upsetting was discovering the terrible condition our oceans are in and the real threat to marine life and ultimately mankind.  It suddenly became very important for me to communicate to my inland students how their lives personally are efffected by the ocean, and, more importantly, how their personal lives effect the ocean. This of course involved discussing the local watershed and tracing the path of the water that starts here to the ocean.  Although I was fairly aware of the water cycle and my personal impact on water quality, I now have a heightened awareness of this crucial resource.  Despite my ocean connections, it is the rivers that I truly connect with.  As a commercial raft guide for several summers I developed a great respect and love for our nations rivers.  Beyond the obvious need for clean water to sustain life, pollution of our watershed means that recreation is also impacted and to me, rafting, swimming, and all the other ways we can enjoy water in the great outdoors are nearly equivable with potable water as to the sustaining of my life.  

In what way does the Boise watershed most impact your ilfe?

 

Comments

Denise Schwendener's picture

Submitted by Denise Schwendener on Mon, 2017-07-10 19:08

I feel so fortunate to live in the middle of the Boise Watershed.  It offers the community so many different things: rafting, swimming, clean water, fishing, beautiful scenery.  I think my family is most impacted by the clean water.  I used to live in San Diego and their drinking water is not even close to how amazing and refreshing our tap water is.  I take our clean water for granted and I agree with you about the importance to share with students how to keep our watershed clean.  Almost everything ends up in our watershed, whether it's washed off the streets into our drains or precolating through the soil into our groundwater.  I feel very fortunate to have access to this clean water.  Because I have to young children, we love just playing in the rivers and lakes.  My boys can spend hours just digging in the sand or throwing rocks in the water.  And I really enjoy the beauty of the watershed while I run or hike.  The Boise Watershed really impacts my life in a variety of ways.  

Jenny Kaylor's picture

Submitted by Jenny Kaylor on Wed, 2017-07-12 07:24

Thanks for sharing Denise! It was interesting to learn that the water in San Diego doesn't taste nearly as good as the water here...

Submitted by Erin Tiderman on Tue, 2017-07-11 06:12

I am excited to learn more about the Boise watershed this week as a digilearner! I grew up on the west coast in the San Joaquin Valley (i.e. Bread basket of the world). Agriculture is the center of life in this area and as a result, water availability is a powerful force. The politics behind water usage over the last 100 years or so has completely changed the natural landscape  of the area. Growing up, I would hear stories from my grandparents about a 50 mile long lake that no longer exists & that there was once an over population of pelicans! I remember thinking how crazy this sounded since the area was now dry and barren with limited wildlife. Because people were moving into northern and Southern California, much of the water from the valley was being diverted to those areas to sustain human life. Because the farmers also needed & still need a substantial amount of water to grow their crops, the natural rivers & lakes slowly began to disappear during the 1900s thus drastically changing natural habitats and biodiversity. I am looking forward to learning more about how Idaho deals with water abundance/shortage, population growth, and maintaining natural habitats.

Jenny Kaylor's picture

Submitted by Jenny Kaylor on Wed, 2017-07-12 07:30

Thanks Erin for your comments.  Before this class I was most interested in learning about water quality and although that is still a major point of interest, I am also intrigued by water allocation and rights. It is sad to hear about water sources (and their ecosystems) that have disappeared due to usage.