 |
| Brian Bowman and Anna Barker, RWMWD Master Water Stewards, visit the Stormwater and Learning Center Park in at MWMWO’s office in Minneapolis.
|
Freshwater Society developed the Master Water Stewards (MWS) program in 2013 to equip citizens with the knowledge and skills to help improve water quality at the grassroots level. After piloting it for three years in Minnehaha Watershed District, the program expanded in 2016 to engage seven watershed districts and one municipality and is now expanding statewide. This year, Freshwater Society will work with even more partners to train stewards. By 2018, they hope to see many of Minnesota’s forty-six watershed districts implementing the MWS program.
Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District began implementing this program in January 2016. We currently have eight Master Water Stewards who have been participating in the on-line training and live training sessions with the other cohort teams from Rice Creek Watershed District and Capitol Region Watershed.
These Master Water Stewards are presently involved in identifying properties for their capstone projects and developing education outreach components in their own neighborhoods. Certified Master Water Stewards will volunteer fifty hours of community service after completing their certification, up to twenty-five hours each subsequent year and participate in ongoing education in order to maintain their certification.
 |
| RWMWD’s Master Water Stewards team visits Cross Lutheran Church to learn from Sherry Batterman how congregation volunteers tend their rain garden across from Wakefield Lake. |
RWMWD is now seeking candidates for the upcoming year’s Master Water Stewards program in our watershed district. The program is slated to begin October 11. Please contact Sage Passi at 651-792-7958 or email Sage for more information about becoming a Master Water Steward for Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District.
We need you!!!
An online application is located at this link.
Learn more about becoming a Master Water Steward
Come to an Information Session
July 26
Freshwater Society
2424 Territorial Rd. Suite B in St. Paul5:30 – 6:30 PM
August 9
Freshwater Society
2424 Territorial Rd. Suite B in St. Paul
5:30 – 6:30 PM
Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
2522 Marshall St. NE, Minneapolis
5:30 – 6:30 PM
September 6
Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
15320 Minnetonka Blvd – Minnetonka
5:30 – 6:30 PM
Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed and Capital Region Watershed Districts
1410 Energy Park Drive, Suite 4, St. Paul
5:30 – 6:30 PM
September 20
Bang Brewing
2320 Capp Road, St. Paul
5:00 – 7:00 PM
Click here for details.
Pilot Program Results
To date, stewards in the metro area have connected with more than 1,000 people through outreach and educational events, and have installed rain gardens, rain barrels, cisterns, a dry creek bed, and a permeable driveway.
Their efforts have prevented more than 1.2 million gallons of polluted stormwater runoff from entering our lakes, rivers, and creeks EACH YEAR!
Going forward, more than 400 pounds of silt, leaves and plant material, animal waste, automobile gas and oil spillage, excess salt, and other debris will be removed from our neighborhoods annually.
Stewards are certified by participating in a broad training curriculum led by experts in the fields of hydrology, stormwater management, water policy, community-based social marketing, and rain garden assessment and installation.
 |
| Master Water Stewards, learn how to design rain gardens at a rainscaping
training session presented by Rusty Schmidt.
|
They complete a capstone project that captures rainfall and allows more water to soak into the ground, and lead a community outreach event. Stewards then become a point of knowledge and influence in their communities.
We are looking forward to seeing the impacts of our Master Water Stewards in action in Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District.
