Fourth graders from schools in the Texas Panhandle are learning how to be better stewards of the environment. This week, the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District is helping children understand why it’s important not to wastewater and disturb animal habitats.

The district’s Water Festival creates a new wave of conservationists.

“I believe conservation starts at a young age,” said Baylee Barnes, conservation outreach specialist.

Baylee Barnes is a conservation outreach specialist. Years ago she attended Save the Planet Water Festival on a field trip as a student. Now she’s helping to teach fourth-graders about the importance of conserving and protecting groundwater. Some of the principles she learned as a fourth-grader she still applies today.

“I know that I turned off the water when I brushed my teeth and that has been indoctrinated in me since I was a young age,” said Barnes. “One of the main things I learned was the edible aquifer it taught us what an aquifer was.”

Students go from station to station learning how to further protect the environment and the importance of leaving animals in the wild alone so they can use the available resources.

“We use a lot more water than we think we do,” said Kymbree Norris, student. “If we’re wasting all this water of this water it gets polluted. The animals can’t have their environment so their ecosystem all changes with animals and there won’t be as many of them.”

“We have animals in the water and we just want to really save them,” said Madelynn Word, student.

Exploring a diverse set of water-related topics can help kids better understand the importance of not wasting water, especially while the region is in a drought.

“The current situation causes more immediate need but the bottom line is we need to create a new generation of water-conscious citizens and individuals so that’s been the idea for sixteen years,” said Kirk Welch, assistant general manager of North Plains Groundwater Conservation District.

After the fourth-grade students complete the field trip they become water rangers with the intent of going home and sharing with their families the importance of water conservation and protecting the environment.

This year’s tour included stops in Dalhart and Perryton.