It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Video Learning Series: Groundwater Guardian Program}

Happy New Year, friends!

2020 is shaping up to be an exciting year full of new adventures and learning opportunities. Many of you already know are a lot of great resources and educational activities on the Groundwater Foundation's website, but did you know that there are several informational YouTube videos, too? In this series, Frannie will take a look at video learning opportunities offered and how you can use them!

Groundwater Guardian is growing in 2020, so Frannie's excited to kick off this series with a look at the new and improved program.

The Groundwater Guardian program offers support and recognition to motivated groups throughout the U.S. who conduct education, conservation, and protection efforts to protect local groundwater. Founded in 1994, Groundwater Guardian Teams applied each year by submitting a list of proposed activities to bring awareness to local groundwater concerns and reported on progress at the end of each program year.

Logo from 2017

In 2008, a grant from the Kellogg Foundation provided an opportunity to expand to include areas of managed land through a related, but separate, program called Groundwater Guardian Green Site. Land managers or caretakers applied for this program by answering questions about, and earning points for, groundwater friendly management practices. If their application received a 70% or above, they were awarded a Green Site designation.

Logo from 2017

In 2018, the Groundwater Foundation merged with the National Ground Water Association's Foundation for Education. The Foundation for Education's audience primarily included businesses and industry professionals and the Groundwater Foundation saw an opportunity to recognize them for innovative solutions and practices that protect and conserve groundwater. With a lot of brainstorming and collaboration, the Groundwater Foundation decided to bring together teams, managed lands, and businesses, making them all Groundwater Guardians.

On October 9, 2019, Frannie's friend and Groundwater Foundation Program Manager Sara Brock presented the first look of these programs at the Nebraska Water Conference in Norfolk, NE.

2020 is the inaugural year of the Groundwater Guardian for Teams, Groundwater Guardian for Turf, and Groundwater Guardian for Business programs. New logos are on the way. New activities are being developed. New communities are getting involved. It's even easier for you to become involved!

Find out more information on the Groundwater Guardian website or email guardian@groundwater.org.

BLOG: What a Groundwater Week!

by Jennifer Wemhoff, Groundwater Foundation

Last week, all three Groundwater Foundation staffers traveled to Las Vegas for our first Groundwater Week as part of the National Ground Water Association family. It was an awesome week - meeting NGWA staff members, board members, and members, and introducing them to the work we do at the Groundwater Foundation. Check out our website for some photos and highlights from the week. Be sure to mark your calendars and plan to be there for Groundwater Week 2019 - December 2-5, 2019 in Las Vegas.

Perhaps the most exciting part of Groundwater Week for us was the debut of a video about the work of the Groundwater Foundation. It was a lot of fun to collaborate with the team from NGWA to develop this video and tell the Foundation's story:

We're proud of the work we do at the Groundwater Foundation - and we're proud to have you be a part of it.

Show your support - donate today!