A group of 21 Oil City Elementary Magnet School fifth graders learned some new words as they toured a wetland project at the LSU AgCenter’s Red River Research Station in Bossier City on April 26, 2007.
Global positioning satellites, buoys, Google Earth, elevation and topographical were just some of the terminology used in the lessons for science teacher Cindy Kilpatrick’s group.
The Constructed Wetland Project is a research effort to see if natural biological and chemical processes can be used to help reduce water pollution.
“The goal of this project is to show how using natural resources, such as a wetland, can improve the water quality of runoff coming off agricultural land,” said Eddie Millhollon, LSU AgCenter researcher at the station.
Nonpoint-source pollutants – water pollution that comes from undetermined sources – have been cited as a suspected cause of much of the impairment of waterways in the Red River Basin, Millhollon said. He said the project has shown significant improvement in water quality, through sampling water at various points along the path of the system, from the point where runoff enters the wetland to the point where it leaves.
Rain triggers a series of events that puts an automated water sampling machine into action. A solar panel powers the sampling machine. The sample is sent to a lab to determine water quality.
The group began their lesson in the conference room at the station, viewing a large map and a model of the project built by Russell Anderson, research associate.
They then visited both the shallow and deep pools of the wetland. The three-foot shallow pool is a manmade swamp with vegetation that can facilitate sediment build-up and filter fertilizers out of the water, Millhollon said. The 9-foot deep pond provides additional nutrient reduction in an environment where anaerobic bacteria break down pesticides.
Fifth grader Robby Null said seeing the two different pools was his favorite part of the day. He even caught a glimpse of a snake in the water.
The children appeared amazed that fish were in the manmade pool, but Millhollon explained that they likely got there from birds with eggs attached to their feet.
Runoff from fertilizer used to makes things grow can cause algae to expand and take oxygen out of the water that fish need to survive, Millhollon said. The wetland project keeps fertilizer from getting into Flat River, which runs into Red River.
Read more on the constructed wetland project.
Mary Ann Van Osdell
(This article was published in the spring 2007 issue of Louisiana Agriculture.) |