The City of Bend and the Environmental Center have partnered on a new education program called “Our Water System: A Journey through Bend.”

The program consists of four classroom lessons: an overview of the Deschutes Watershed and how our community uses water, a school ground tour of how water gets into and out of our schools and homes, an activity involving removing pollutants from water and a hands-on lesson about water conservation.

Eventually, when construction is complete, the program will also include two field trips:

• to the site where our Bridge Creek water source is diverted into pipes and the site where our water treatment facility is under construction
• to the water reclamation plant -- the City’s sewage wastewater treatment facility

The program was piloted with a Natural Resources class as Marshall High School in January 2015 and will be delivered to all sixth grade students at Cascade Middle School in April and May. The program is free for middle and high school classes at public and private schools in Bend.