FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE01-07
March
19, 2001
Contact: Geoff Ryan
(718/595-6600)
DEP-Funded
"Water Power" Conference At NYU
Commissioner Joel A. Miele Sr., P.E., of the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that over 100 teachers will
attend a "Water Power Conference" to be held at New York University
on Thursday, March 22.
"The conference will focus on the New York City water supply system
and the watersheds of its upstate reservoirs," said Commissioner Miele,
who will be the welcoming speaker at the conference. "This is a great
opportunity for teachers from schools in the City and the watersheds to participate
in workshops, view exhibits, hear from environmental professionals and educators,
and attend performances related to the role of water in our lives. All of
this will stimulate dialogues among the teachers and provide ideas and materials
for making water an exciting part of classroom curricula."
As part of the historic Watershed Memorandum of Agreement of 1997, DEP
provides over a million dollars to the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC)
for grants that fund educational projects in the watershed and in the City.
Funds for this first-time-ever conference were provided by CWC to the City
Parks Foundation, which is acting as the sponsor. Hosting the conference is
the New York University School of Education's Wallerstein Collaborative for
Urban Environmental Education.
Teachers will visit the "Healing Waters" exhibit at the South
Street Seaport Museum, which stresses the importance of the City's upstate
water supply system to public health and the viability of the City as a major
metropolis. They will hear a noted storyteller read from his work and demonstrate
how exciting the story of water and the watershed can be for children. Workshops
will deal with watershed ecology, water quality science, and the concept of
networking between teachers and students in schools of the watershed and the
City. And the day will wind up with a performance of a puppet show, "The
City that Drinks the Mountain Sky."
"Few of the nine million people who enjoy the first-rate water provided
by the watershed region and the City's reservoirs think about where it comes
from," said Commissioner Miele. "We are delighted to encourage sharing
of the many themes that make up water's amazing story, and we hope that teachers
will be inspired to introduce those themes to their students. This conference
will help groups from upstate and downstate areas to recognize our common
responsibility for protecting the entire watershed region."
For more information about the conference, visit www.nycwatershed.net.