Anniversary Story: "Fascination with Groundwater" by Marlene Rasmussen

"Fascination with Groundwater"

by Marlene Rasmussen, Retired Educator and Former Groundwater Foundation Board Member

I am 82 years old now and this is my story:

I’ve always been drawn to, and fascinated by groundwater. I learned more about it when I took a conservation class in college. As a child I didn’t know how clean water could be pumped up through the ground, which was dirt…

The conservation class opened my eyes to the how/when/where of water, and I wanted to share what I had learned with my students. We made a spring field trip each year and each time with a stop at the Platte River near Kearney, Nebraska where we stayed until dusk finding the water table when we dug into the sand…taking a small digging tool was mandatory, as was being very quiet as the cranes began their evening return to the river. One year we saw an endangered whooping crane. The students were thrilled, and so was I!

So when I read about the founding of The Groundwater Foundation, I called Susan Seacrest and was one of the first to join. Prior to that I knew very little about what a foundation is and what it does. I came to Lincoln for a conference on groundwater issues, and was later asked to join the Board.

I retired from teaching many years ago, but I have lots of fond memories of those years in the classroom, and of my association with The Groundwater Foundation.

**Note: Marlene brought her 6^th grade class to a Groundwater Foundation Symposium in 1988. Their curiosity and enthusiasm was the impetus for the creation of the Nebraska Children’s Groundwater Festival in 1989, which was the first event of its kind and has been replicated across the U.S. and internationally.

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28 Weeks Until the 2015 Groundwater Foundation National Conference and 30th Anniversary Celebration!

30th Anniversary Story Teller Sponsor
Marshfield Utilities

30th Anniversary Story Teller Supporter
National Ground Water Association