It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Make Your Own Rain Gauge!}

April showers bring May flowers and it's certainly been sprinkling around Frannie's pond! Rain gauges are an excellent way to measure how much precipitation your outdoor plants are receiving and help save you money so you only water your lawn and garden when needed.

Here's how you can make your own. To start, you'll need:

• A plastic bottle with a flat bottom
• Scissors 
• A ruler
• A permanent marker
• Stickers (optional)

Here's what you do:
1. Begin by removing all the labeling and cleaning the plastic bottle.

2. Take the scissors and the cut off approximately the top third of the bottle.

3. Flip the top third of the bottle upside down and insert it into the plastic bottle.

4. Using the ruler, mark 1/4", 1/2", and 1" increments starting from the bottom of the plastic bottle. For more fun, use stickers and markers to decorate your rain gauge.

5. Place your rain gauge outside. You can use twine to tie it to a post, bury it, or use another method to ensure it stays upright.

6. Check your rain gauge after a storm to see how much rain has fallen.

Take a picture of your rain gauge and share it with Frannie at hydro@groundwater.org!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {At Home Learning: You Be The Judge}

Water is an essential part of our everyday life. Water resource managers, city utility personnel, water well professionals, and more go to work every day to make sure we all maintain access to our clean water, even in uncertain circumstances.

Sometimes they are faced with hard decisions: Should water use be restricted? Should a certain amount of water be allocated to certain people or to everyone? In the following activity, you will be provided scenarios and you get to decide who should get the water. You be the judge!

Here's what you need:

• Pitcher filled with water
• Cups for each participant
• Water use cards - you can copy or print the cards found in the activity instructions or make posters representing different water uses
• Scissors 
• Poster board (optional)
• Markers (optional)  

Here's what you do:  
1. Fill a pitcher with water. Make sure there is a limited amount of water so that not all cups can be filled.

2. Give each participant a cup.

3. Pass around the pitcher so each participant can fill their cup. A full cup represents enough water for the participants to meet their water needs.

4. Sometimes there is not enough water available for everyone's needs - in times of drought for example. Ask the participants to express how they feel.

5. Ask what they could do to make sure they all get water.

6. Repeat steps 1-5, this time with water allocations. Choose one or combine both of the following options:

• First in time, first in right. Have the participants arrange themselves in order by their birth date.   
• Use the water use cards found in the activity instructions to determine how the water is distributed. Randomly pass out the cards. Participants can use the information on the cards to discuss and campaign for more water or why others should get more and some should get less.

7. Discuss the results, other ways the water could be allocated, and what the participants learned about water use. 

• Those with more important uses get more. Who decides what's more important?
• Equal shares: everyone gets some, but some will get less than what they need.
• Apply water restrictions and use water conservation practices to reduce the amount needed/used.

Share what you learned with the Groundwater Foundation!