Education

Why Educating Young People About Water Quality and the Environment Is Crucial for a Bright Future

August 28, 2024 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

In an era marked by rapid environmental changes and growing concerns about sustainability, it is increasingly clear that educating young people about the importance of clean water, healthy habitats, and the environment is not just beneficial—it’s essential. As we face challenges like climate change, water scarcity, and ecological degradation, equipping the next generation with knowledge and tools to tackle these issues is more crucial than ever.

Channelkeeper believes that investing in environmental education for young people is a vital step towards ensuring a sustainable and thriving future. By fostering an understanding of water quality and environmental systems, we empower the next generation to become responsible stewards, innovative thinkers, and passionate advocates.

On Seafari Cruises, our team hosts students aboard Channelkeeper’s boat to experience an on-the-water adventure. Students collect plankton samples, observe wildlife like dolphins, sea lions, and harbor seals, and learn about marine conservation efforts along our coast. For our Field Studies program in the Ventura River, high school students don waders to take nutrient and bacteria samples and assess water quality. Channelkeeper’s Shore to Sea program combines classroom watershed education with an outdoor experience, such as a kayaking adventure in the Santa Barbara Harbor, that introduces students to the land-sea connection.

Here’s why investing in this education can pave the way for a brighter, more sustainable future.

1. Understanding the Interconnectedness of Systems

Water quality and environmental health are deeply intertwined with numerous other systems—public health, agriculture, and economic stability, to name a few. Teaching young people about these connections helps them understand how their actions affect the world around them.

Furthermore, time spent on the water connects young people intimately with the natural world. It helps orient them within their watershed and allows them to interact with it. Students can see and touch some of the organisms that rely on clean water and trace the path that water takes through their community to the ocean. This brings awareness to the impacts of their everyday actions on water quality. This holistic understanding fosters a sense of responsibility and empowers young people to make informed decisions that benefit the environment.

2. Fostering a Sense of Responsibility

Educating young people about the environment can encourage a sense of stewardship. Channelkeeper provides meaningful experiences on the water with the understanding that today’s youth are the decision-makers of tomorrow and that their environmental ethics are critical to our planet’s future.

When students learn about the impact of pollution, overuse of resources, and habitat destruction, they’re more likely to feel responsible for their actions and the choices they make. This can translate into more sustainable habits, such as conserving water, recycling, and supporting eco-friendly products. By introducing young people to water science and instilling these values early on, we hope to inspire interest in protecting the environment and nurture a generation that will prioritize the planet’s health.

3. Inspiring Innovation and Solutions

A solid foundation in environmental science and water quality can ignite a passion for problem-solving and innovation. Many of today’s environmental challenges require creative solutions and technological advancements. When young people are exposed to the complexities of these issues, they’re inspired to think critically and develop new approaches. Whether through engineering new water purification technologies or creating sustainable farming practices, early education can spark ideas that lead to groundbreaking solutions.

4. Supporting Health and Well-being

Water quality directly impacts human health. Contaminated water sources can lead to diseases and long-term health issues. By educating young people about the importance of clean water and how to protect it, we’re not only teaching them to safeguard natural resources but also to take care of their own health and that of their communities. Understanding the link between environmental quality and personal well-being can lead to healthier lifestyles and communities.

5. Building Advocacy and Leadership Skills

Education about environmental issues empowers young people to become advocates for change. When students are well-informed about the challenges and potential solutions related to water quality and environmental conservation, they are more likely to engage in activism, policy-making, and community projects. This advocacy is crucial for driving societal changes and influencing policies that protect natural resources and promote sustainability.

6. Promoting a Sustainable Future

The knowledge and skills that students gain today will not only address the environmental challenges of tomorrow but also inspire a collective commitment to protecting our planet for the long haul. Channelkeeper is proud to advance environmental education that builds a brighter, greener future for everyone.

Because the decisions and actions taken by today’s youth will shape the world they inherit, we believe that our environmental education programs are supporting a sustainable future. By providing young people with knowledge about water quality and environmental issues, we are equipping them to make choices that support long-term ecological balance, advance environmental protection, and contribute to a healthier planet for future generations.

Clean Water Starts with Us: How We Can Help Address Water Pollution

August 2, 2024 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

Water pollution is a complex issue with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems, human health, and the planet as a whole. However, the good news is that each of us has the power to make a positive impact with everyday actions we take. Here’s a closer look at water pollution, its effects, and how you can contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment.

Understanding Water Pollution

Water is a universal solvent, able to dissolve more substances than any other liquid on Earth. While this is a positive attribute that allows it to dissolve minerals like sodium chloride for the world’s oceans and to transport nutrients in our blood, it also means that water can easily become polluted when toxins are introduced.

Water pollution occurs when harmful substances contaminate waterways like rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans, making them unsafe for consumption and damaging aquatic life. This pollution can come from various sources:

Industrial Discharges: Factories and industrial plants can release pollutants into rivers and lakes through direct discharge or stormwater systems.

Agricultural Pollution: Pesticides and fertilizers used in farming can wash into waterways, introducing harmful chemicals and excess nutrients.

Sewage and Wastewater: Inadequate treatment of sewage and wastewater can introduce pathogens and pollutants into water systems.

Stormwater Pollution: Chemicals, oil, grease, and nutrients can drain into municipal stormdrains and eventually local waterways

Plastic Pollution: Single-use plastics and other debris can end up in oceans and rivers, causing harm to wildlife and ecosystems.

Oil Spills: Accidental spills from ships and pipelines release harmful chemicals into the water, devastating aquatic environments.

The Impact of Water Pollution

The consequences of water pollution are severe:

Health Risks: Contaminated water can carry diseases and toxins, leading to serious health issues for humans, including gastrointestinal problems, neurological disorders, and even cancer.

Ecosystem Damage: Pollutants can disrupt aquatic ecosystems, harming fish, plants, and other wildlife. This disruption can lead to the collapse of local ecosystems and biodiversity loss.

Economic Costs: Cleanup efforts, healthcare costs, and loss of recreational opportunities due to polluted water can have substantial economic impacts on communities.

Local Efforts to Prevent Water Pollution

Protecting water quality in the Santa Barbara Channel is at the core of Channelkeeper’s work to ensure that our community has access to clean, drinkable, swimmable, fishable water. To that effect, Channelkeeper monitors and advocates to protect water quality in the Santa Barbara Channel and surrounding watersheds.

Our team gathers and shares water quality data to help decision-makers protect and restore local waterways and to foster wider community awareness and involvement in protecting water quality. We collect plankton samples to monitor harmful algal blooms, we respond to community member reports of pollution, and take action to ensure enforcement of fundamental environmental laws. We also mobilize community members to help us protect our waterways by picking up trash, plastic, and marine debris.

How You Can Help: A Community Approach

Reducing and preventing water pollution requires collective effort. Here are a few practical steps you can take to contribute to cleaner water:

Proper Disposal of Chemicals and Waste: Avoid dumping chemicals, oils, pharmaceuticals, and hazardous substances down the drain, and make sure that your car doesn’t leak oil, antifreeze, or coolant. Be mindful of anything that goes into storm drains, since they flow directly into local waterways.

Participate in Local Cleanup Events: Help protect water sources. Volunteer with Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade to remove trash from beaches, creeks, rivers, and urban areas. Help keep local waterways and the environment clean!

Reduce Plastic Use: Minimize your use of single-use plastics. Choose reusable bags, bottles, and containers. Properly recycle plastic waste and participate in local cleanup events to remove plastics from natural environments. Support companies that make decisions to use less single-use plastic and advocate for policies that work to address plastic pollution at its source.

Use Eco-Friendly Products: Choose environmentally friendly cleaning products, pesticides, and fertilizers. Many of these products are designed to minimize harm to aquatic ecosystems.

Educate Yourself and Others: Learn about where your water comes from and where it goes after you use it. Does your drinking water come from a well, a river, lake, or reservoir? Is the wastewater from your home treated at a facility or does it collect into a septic system? Where does stormwater flow to? As you learn, you will be able to determine where your actions will have the most impact. Help raise awareness about water pollution within your community. Educate friends, family, and neighbors about the importance of water conservation and pollution prevention.

Reduce Runoff: If you have a garden or lawn, avoid over-fertilizing and use natural methods to control pests. Redirect downspouts to landscape and install rain harvesting tools like barrels and cisterns. Implement rain gardens or permeable pavements to reduce runoff and improve water absorption.

Conserve Water: Conserving water reduces the volume of wastewater that must be treated and decreases the strain on local water resources. Simple actions like fixing leaks, taking shorter showers, and using water-efficient fixtures can make a big difference.

Be an Advocate: Use your voice to stand up for clean water. Speak out in support of the Clean Water Act, which helps hold polluters accountable. Tell your local elected officials that you support water protections and investments in infrastructure.

We are All Part of the Solution to Water Pollution

When it comes to water pollution, every action counts. By making mindful choices and encouraging others to do the same, each of us can significantly reduce our contribution to water pollution and help protect our precious water resources. Together, we can foster healthier ecosystems and communities and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. Clean water is not just a necessity—it’s a right that we can all work to preserve.

Planting the Seeds of Environmental Stewardship Through Art

April 23, 2024 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

An interview with this year’s Student Art Show Juror, Kelly Clause

Every spring for the past twenty-one years, Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show has celebrated the connection between young people and the ocean. High school students from Carpinteria to Goleta are invited to create their interpretations of what the Santa Barbara Channel means to them. The artwork they produce is expressive, personal, and powerful.

Inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders is one of the show’s fundamental goals. This year, we’re thrilled to welcome artist Kelly Clause, who participated in Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show in 2005, as a high school student, as the show’s juror.

Kelly’s artwork is influenced by the ocean and its inhabitants, as well as the unique beauty of the California coast. She believes that connecting young people to the ocean through experiences like the Student Art Show helps plant the seeds of environmental stewardship—a connection with nature that can be nourished over time and can inspire a life-long sense of environmental responsibility and care.

In the interview that follows, Kelly shares her profound, personal connection to the ocean as well as her experience as a young participant in Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show and the positive impact that it had on her as an artist.

Channelkeeper (SBCK): As an artist, what draws you to paint the ocean and its creatures?

Kelly Clause (KC): The ocean and its creatures are the object of my never-ending curiosity, awe, and respect. The ocean is full of life, full of mystery, and will humble even the most confident of human beings. It feels so natural for me to paint the ocean because I was raised near it, in it, and with this constant hunger to understand it more. I love to surf, dive, paddle, and generally just spend time near the water. I feel really lucky to have been raised here in Santa Barbara and want to do my best to protect the unique beauty of our coast! I believe art has the potential to impact people to pause, appreciate, grow curious, and ultimately become better stewards of our environment.

SBCK: What was your first experience with Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show?

KC: I believe it was my sophomore or junior year of high school at Dos Pueblos High School, and my art teacher asked if she could enter me into a local art show that was all about the ocean. Naturally, I said yes, painted a big wave in acrylic, turned it in, and was completely shocked when they announced I had won an award for it. I really had no idea what Channelkeeper was at the time, but I vividly remember the kindness and enthusiasm in that room.

SBCK: What was the Student Art Show experience like as a student?

KC: It was fun! It was my first ever experience being a part of an art show, and Channelkeeper did such a great job at making us students feel important and honored for showing our work. It was a positive experience for me, and increased my confidence and helped me take chances and enter other art shows down the road.

SBCK: Why do you think it’s important to highlight the artwork of young people?

KC: Young people not only have artistic talent that should be celebrated and seen, but by investing in youth, we are investing in our future community and environment. Art can be a powerful voice to spark curiosity, prompt questions, increase emotional literacy, and promote beautiful causes. Encouraging young people to be vulnerable in expressing themselves through art as a means of communication is a worthy investment

SBCK: As you know, the theme of the show each year is “What the Channel Means to Me.” If you were going to create one piece of art that evoked what the Channel means to you, what would you create?

KC: It’s difficult to sum up what the Channel means to me in one piece of art, but I guess that’s the beauty of art. You don’t have to say it all! At this point in time, I would probably paint Giant kelp, because of its beauty and the unique ecosystem it creates in our Channel.

SBCK: Do you have a favorite ocean creature to represent in your artwork? Why?

KC: Humpbacks! To me, whales are completely majestic creatures. Their size alone is absolutely awe-inspiring and will make you feel humbled in a second if you are fortunate enough to get close to one. Their devotion to escorting their young thousands of miles home to safety, their acrobatic skills and playful nature, their singing, gentle but fierce demeanor…whales are incredible to me. My first watercolor was a whale, and it inspired the entire direction of my artistic journey.

The community is invited to join us in celebrating the artists at a reception on Thursday, May 2^nd from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm that will take place at the Jodi House Gallery at 625 Chapala Street in Santa Barbara.  Click here for more information.

The show is sponsored by Trillium Enterprise, Inc. and the City of Goleta Grant Program. 

Empowering Young Artists to Create a Better World Through Art

April 19, 2023 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

When did you first realize that your voice mattered, or your creativity could have a positive effect? For some local students, Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show has sparked this discovery by providing them with a creative pathway for environmental activism, and art teachers Judith Raimondi and Michael Irwin, jurors of this year’s 20^th-anniversary show, deserve much of the credit.

Every spring for the past twenty years, Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show has celebrated the connection between young people and the ocean. High school students from Carpinteria to Goleta are invited to create their interpretations of what the Santa Barbara Channel means to them. The artwork they produce is expressive, personal, and highly evocative.

Inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders is one of the show’s fundamental goals. Michael Irwin, who for nine years participated as a teacher at San Marcos High School, describes the process of connecting young people to the ocean and local watersheds through Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show as “planting the seeds of stewardship.” This connection with nature, he explains, can inspire a life-long sense of environmental responsibility and care.

Art teacher Michael Irwin and student Oliver Aquilon in 2009.

“In my experience, the earlier you can get students to feel a sense of connectedness to nature by doing artwork about it, the better because it makes that consciousness present throughout their lives.”

The experience of creating art related to nature also provides an excellent opportunity to engage in conversations about important social and environmental issues, according to former Bishop Garcia Diego High School art teacher Judith Raimondi.

When Raimondi introduced the concept of artwork as a reflection of pivotal times in history, her class discussed the degradation of the environment as a critical issue of our time. After exploring vanitas still life paintings from the 1600s, which illustrated important seventeenth-century concepts, she asked students to illustrate their present-day concerns through objects they found and arranged into a still life to paint in oil. The results were powerful environmental statements.

Art teacher Judith Raimondi and student India Longo.

“For all of the students who participated in Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show, this was the first time they were able to imagine art as a public good,” Raimondi explains “The [Art Show] assignment gave the students an opportunity to experience the impact we have on our environment in a personal, meaningful way.”

Irwin echoes this sentiment, explaining his hope to empower students by providing creative ways for them to make a difference. In years past he helped students produce their dream projects for Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show through whatever means possible—sometimes by constructing massive frames and stretching huge swaths of canvas for large-scale pieces or heading to the school’s pool to help them capture underwater images.

“It’s so important today for students to understand that their voice matters and that activism can look many different ways,” Irwin explains. “Even though they may not be legally allowed to vote, they have a really powerful voice.”

Channelkeeper would like to recognize all of the art teachers who each and every day encourage emerging young artists to create meaningful art. Thank you for sparking students’ imaginations and for providing them with a powerful means of expression. We’re especially grateful for your generous support of Channelkeeper’s Student Art Show over the past twenty years and would like to extend our deepest thanks for helping make the show a success.

Join us on May 4^th for this year’s 20^th Annual Student Art Show Reception and Awards Ceremony at the Jodi House Gallery (625 Chapala Street) from 5 pm to 8pm. Click here for more information.

Welcome, Veronica Moran!

April 3, 2023 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

Channelkeeper is delighted to welcome Veronica Moran to our team as a Part-Time Administrative Assistant. In addition to her friendly, can-do approach and passion for environmental science, Veronica brings professional experience and a strong work ethic. She will be supporting Channelkeeper’s clean water work by helping with community outreach, administrative duties, and monitoring fieldwork. We took a moment recently to learn more about the experiences that inspired Veronica to join our staff.

Where did you grow up? What schools did you attend?

I was born and raised in Santa Barbara. I went to Cleveland Elementary, Santa Barbara Junior High, Santa Barbara High School, Santa Barbara City College, and I recently graduated from Cal State University Monterey Bay.

What sparked your interest in environmental science?
When I was in 6^th grade I joined my school’s science club which was run by an amazing teacher named Mr. Criley at Cleveland Elementary. My love for science really grew while being in the Explorers Club, he made learning so much fun by engaging students with hands-on activities and guest speakers. When I was in junior high, I went back to volunteer for the Explorers Club. During this time one of the guest speakers was Penny Owens, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper’s Education and Community Outreach Director. She took us to our local creek to teach us about water quality monitoring. She also joined us on an overnight trip we took to Santa Cruz Island. The time I spent with her sparked my interest in environmental science.

How did that affect your career path?
Whenever people would ask me what I wanted my career to be, I would always tell them about the work that Santa Barbara Channelkeeper does and that my goal was to work for the organization or one very similar to it. I recently graduated from Cal State University Monterey Bay with a B.S degree in Biology with a minor in Environmental Science. I’m very happy to have made my goal a reality and that I get to work with someone who has inspired me and with all the other amazing people at Channelkeeper.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I love taking my dog Sandy hiking or to the beach.

Do you have a favorite macroinvertebrate?
I think caddisflies are cool because when they are in the larval stage they build little houses out of rocks, twigs, and shells.

We understand that your last job involved monitoring native and non-native plant species at Fort Ord National Monument for the Bureau of Land Management. Do you have any fun anecdotes to share related to that experience?
Native plants are so important in order to have sustainable habitats and species biodiversity. I really enjoyed learning how to identify these plants. My favorite experience at Fort Ord was monitoring a Grassland plot which is grazed by goats. The goats eat the exotic plants which allows native plants more opportunity to grow. At the end of one of our surveys, the goats were let into the plot and our team was surrounded by hundreds of goats!

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your relationship with snapping shrimp? (1 being “strongly dislike” and 10 being “love the little critters”).
My relationship with snapping shrimp is a 9, they are really cool critters! It’s so interesting how they have evolved to produce such a powerful shockwave. But I have to take a point off because one used their powerful punch on me while I was looking through a holdfast it was hiding in.

Do you have any long-term goals for your work at Channelkeeper?
I love Channelkeeper and the work that we do for the community, so my goal is to be able to learn and grow within the organization.