San Diego Conservation Community Hosts Festival in Honor of World Water Day

People gathered last Saturday, March 18th, at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Discovery Center for the World Water Festival in celebration of World Water Day and to raise awareness for local water issues. Held annually since 1993, World Water Day highlights the criticality of fresh water and brings awareness to the nearly 2 billion people who live without access to safe water around the world.

This year’s event kicked off with the Tip Top Run, a 5k and 10k, put on by the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation. The race concluded at the Discovery Center, where cheerleaders greeted the runners as they crossed the finish line and awards were handed out for the fastest times, as well as for best costume and best dog costume. Afterwards, runners mingled and wandered through the Discovery Center where food was provided by Tip Top Meats, a Carlsbad deli, and there was a beer garden for the adults.

Educational exhibits were set up throughout the Discovery Center, attendees enjoyed live presentations throughout the day, including one on Peregrine Falcons, and there were multiple hands-on activities for kids.

The Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System was at the festival, teaching people about water monitoring. Megan Medina (Hepner), the Program Coordinator for the organization, described it as a “consortium of scientists” focused on water monitoring throughout Southern California. “We support twenty-two PI’s from nine different institutions that do various ocean observing in Southern California, from Morro Bay down to Ensenada,” she said. Their projects range from tracking pollution and sea level rise, to search and rescue. This research is conducted through a number of methods, including high-frequency radar and a network of underwater gliders. 

Alyssa Senturk was in attendance representing San Diego Coastkeeper. She is the Communications and Outreach Director for the environmental nonprofit, and explained, “Our mission is to protect and restore fishable, swimmable, and drinkable water in San Diego County.” San Diego Coastkeeper focuses efforts on a combination of education, outreach, and advocacy.

Though they have a number of programs, Coastkeeper’s primary focus in recent years has been on stormwater infrastructure. “Here in San Diego County, our storm drains and storm pipes are over one hundred years old and we don’t have a dedicated source of funding”, Senturk continued. “We are pushing for a dedicated storm funding mechanism. Hopefully you will see that on the ballot in a couple of years.”

Another local organization with a focus on storm water issues is BCK Programs, who seek to connect students with the environment and get them involved with environmental research. Their main program is called the SWPPP internship. “We go around to schools and teach students about storm water and its effects on the ocean and marine life,” shared Taylor Hacker, a high school Senior and SWPPP alumni who is now involved in the program. “We have very hands-on activities for students so they can maximize their learning, because a lot of students either can’t sit still or they just wouldn’t learn as much from a lecture as they would from a hands-on activity,” Taylor continued. He demonstrated one of BCK Programs’ labs for me, which involved a simulated car wash to demonstrate how the pollutants on your car end up in the sea. 

Overall, it was a very fun and informational event. The weather was perfect and everyone was excited to be supporting such a worthwhile cause.