The first annual World Water week will take place the week of March 21-25 at Chief Sealth International High School. World Water Week will promote understanding of the relationship between members of our local community with water here and around the world, with the emphasis on improving that relationship through conservation and local action addressing equal access for all global citizens.

The week will consist of five days full of powerful speakers and engaging workshops for students, teachers and the community.

• Monday, March 21st will feature an exciting keynote speaker, Robert Glennon). Glennon is a professor of law and public policy at the University of Arizona and is the author of the bestselling book, Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and what to do about it. His talk will be preceded by personalized video message from Alexandra Cousteau, famed global water activist and filmmaker. Congressman Jay Inslee, as well as a representative from the Mayor’s office, will also be in attendance. Representatives from the Duwamish Tribe will attend the event and provide a blessing for World Water Week. Before the keynote lecture, there will be a water resource fair with tables from local government and non-profit organizations. There will also be some live music and refreshments. This event will be free and open to the public.
• Tuesday night will be an evening event for Chief Sealth students and parents, with the focus on water and environmentally related career, college, and internship opportunities. There will be booths from many local colleges and organizations, as well as break-out sessions from environmental journalists and hopefully some green engineers.
• Wednesday and Thursday will be made up of in-school workshops focused on raising awareness of our local water sources and the global water crisis.
• Friday will be our big day. There will be no regular classes during school. There will be 4 “periods” plus lunch. Each grade level will participate in a water carrying (“Carry 5”) walk. Students (and staff) will carry 1-5 gallons of water around the track for a couple of miles. We will be simulating what over a billion people do every day to gather fresh water for their families. This whole event is actually the culmination of a month-long fundraiser that the school will be doing for Water 1st International. During the other three rotations on Friday, students and staff will sign up for workshop sessions. There will be several choices each hour. The day will conclude with an all school assembly where we will announce which grade raised the most money and conclude with a performance by a local band.

This festival is being organized by Chief Sealth senior Molly Freed, her teacher Noah Zeichner and a group of 50 Chief Sealth students and teachers, in collaboration with several local organizations. Last summer, the Bezos Family Foundation selected Freed and Zeichner as Bezos Scholars — two of only 24 across the nation — to attend the Aspen Ideas Festival. At the festival, scholars were directed to create their own local Ideas Festival, and Freed and Zeicher developed the idea of World Water Week.

For more information contact Noah Zeichner, Social Studies Teacher, Chief Sealth International High School, 2600 SW Thistle Street Seattle, WA 98126, or by phone at 206-252-8626  or check out the Chief Sealth International High School website.

Sustainable Seattle and EOS Alliance are partnering to provide a hands-on low impact development workshop.

The rain running off our roofs, roads and yards is the biggest source of pollution entering Puget Sound’s water. We all contribute to this pollution, and we can all help solve this problem by applying Low Impact Development techniques that slow the runoff down and treat the water. To help you learn about and apply LID on your own property, Sustainable Seattle, in partnership with EOS Alliance, is offering a workshop that combines a class about the benefits and types of LID with a hands-on experience building a rain garden or bioswale so you can exactly what is involved.

Saturday, February 26th will be the theory and background day. We will cover what sustainable design is, what it means to you and its context in the neighborhood, city, region, nation and planet, and its nexus with Low Impact Development, before going into more detail about site assessment and design.

Sunday, February 27th will be the hands-on day. Participants will have a chance to enter their own property into a drawing, the winner of which will be the work site for the rest of the day. We will visit the winning site to do an initial survey, design what to build there to improve its stormwater handling, and spend the rest of the day building what we have designed.

Thank you to EOS Alliance for partnering with us on this workshop.

To read more and register online, visit http://sustainableseattle.org/training/228

The schedule for the two days is below:

Saturday February 26

• 10:30 am – noon: The first session will cover what sustainable design is, what it means to you and its context in the neighborhood, city, region, nation and planet, and its nexus with Low Impact Development.
• 12 – 1:00 pm: Lunch and socialising. Bring a sack lunch and we’ll eat together.
• 1:00 – 5:00 pm: Detailed discussion of Low Impact Design. Topics covered will include:
  • Site assessment
  • Soil analysis
  • Site hydrology
  • Site mapping & analysis
  • Site planning & layout
  • Site design

Sunday February 27

• 9:00 am – noon: Optional site assessment field trip. We will have a drawing to pick a students house for the installation of a rain garden or other LID design solution. It is understood from the class syllabus that all those participating in the drawing will need to share in the cost and labor of building a rain garden. Participation in this is voluntary and is not part of the basic course syllabus. We will then arrange a field trip to that location for in field practice of site analysis and site planning based on the analysis principles learned.
• 12 – 1:00 pm: Lunch indoors.
• 1:00 – 5:00 pm: Construction. We will retrofit a class member’s house with a rain garden and/or bioswale. This is a hands-on physical exercise.

Location:

Vance Building, room 530

1402 Third Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

Closest transit station: University Street.

What to bring

Please dress comfortably, and bring paper, something to write with and a sack lunch for each day. Most of Sunday will be spent outdoors, so please bring rain gear, boots and work gloves if you have them.  We will provide tea, coffee and light snacks.

Interested in making a difference with the Legislature?

Fortunately, the 2011 Legislative Session is near and as we prepare for the upcoming session, the Environmental Priorities Coalition invites you to join them for the annual Environmental Priorities Coalition Legislative Workshop. The workshop is a fun way to come learn about the 2011 Environmental Priorities and how you can take action to help get them passed.

Here’s the details:

• Environmental Priorities Coalition Legislative Workshop
• When: Saturday, January 8th, 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM
• Where: Seattle Pacific University, Gwinn Room
• Cost: $20 with lunch, $10 without lunch, and $10 for students with lunch
• environment

Experts will be on hand and a panel of our state legislators will be able to answer your questions about this year’s Environmental Priorities. There will also be break-out sessions on how to use social media to get your voice heard and be your own citizen lobbyist. Also, new this year, there will be a session on Activism 2.0, for folks who are ready to take their activism to the next level to help build the environmental movement.

Space is limited and already beginning to fill up. Register online today.

For more information contact Craig M. Benjamin, Communications Director, Environmental Priorities Coalition.

The Environmental Priorities Coalition consists of the following organizations:

• American Rivers
• Climate Solutions
• Conservation NW
• Earth Ministry
• Environment Washington
• Fuse
• Futurewise
• Heart of America Northwest
• The Lands Council
• League of Women Voters of Washington
• Lutheran Public Policy Office
• National Wildlife Federation
• NW Energy Coalition
• People for Puget Sound
• Sierra Club Cascade Chapter
• Surfrider Foundation
• Transportation Choices Coalition
• Washington Conservation Voters
• Washington Environmental Council
• Washington State Audubon
• Washington Toxics Coalition
• Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition
• Zero Waste Washington
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Join King County Wastewater Division Monday, November 1, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Avenue SW, for a Special Community Meeting to discuss the possibility of using the  Lincoln Park South Parking Lot as a location for Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) control.

This is a public meeting to discuss the new alternative proposed by the Murray Community Advisory Group for CSO control in West Seattle. King County has been working with the community in West Seattle since 2007 to develop a plan to control combined sewer overflows in Puget Sound. The Murray Community Advisory Group, or CAG, has recommended a water storage tank under the Lincoln Park south parking lot. King County needs to hear from the community as part of the process to evaluate this alternative.

King County has evaluated a number of alternatives for CSO control in West Seattle including upstream Green Stormwater Infrastructure, storage under the old Fauntleroy School or under Upper Fauntleroy Way near ferry dock, and several options near the Murray pump station: including private property across the street from Lowman Beach Park, under Beach Drive, and under Lowman Beach Park. This new alternative developed by the Murray CAG would directly impact Lincoln Park users and nearby neighbors. Come to this meeting to learn more and tell us what you think.

For more information and to learn more about King County’s proposals for CSO control in the Barton and Murray basins visit the project Web page at www.kingcounty.gov/CSOBeachProjects. You can also access the Community Advisory Group’s recommendation at that website.

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