DOW hosts 19th Make a Splash water education Festival
LIHUE – The Department of Water (DOW) coordinated its 19th Make a Splash with Project WET festival, hosting their largest student outreach ever, welcoming 787 fifth grade students at the Vidinha Stadium Soccer Field in Lihue on Friday, September 20, 2024.
“The Make a Splash festival demonstrates the importance of education and our commitment to promote the value of water in our communities,” said Jonell Kaohelauli’i, Project WET state coordinator and DOW’s Information and Education Specialist. “We have a responsibility to educate the next generation of water leaders. Each year we share our knowledge with students through live demonstrations of real-life water topics and encourage critical thinking to give them a glimpse of how they can influence a sustainable water future.”
DOW invites Kaua`i’s fifth grade students to attend the Make a Splash festival each year. The event gathers parents, students, teachers, government resource agencies, community volunteers and businesses for a common cause: to educate students about water, our most precious resource.
The festival offers lessons in infrastructure, environmental impact and rehabilitation, groundwater, watershed management, scientific water properties, wastewater and more. Each activity is structured in 2 parts: a lesson and a hands-on component, to provide students with a memorable learning experience.
Make a Splash features activities from Project WET, an award-winning curriculum of water education activities, in addition to water-related presentations from DOW’s community partners. This year, the festival featured 8 Project WET activities and 2 activities sponsored by its water partners: Aqua Engineers, Inc. and NOAA-Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle program.
Volunteers from Kaua`i and neighboring islands join forces with DOW and their staff to support the educational presentations at the Make a Splash festival.
DOW would like to thank the following partners of the 2024 Make a Splash with Project WET Festival: Aqua Engineers, Inc., Department of Education, Department of Health – Safe Drinking Water Branch, Department of Land and Natural Resources – Forestry and Wildlife, East & West Kaua`i Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Grove Farm Land Corporation, Hawaii Rural Water Association, Kapa’a High School JROTC; The Nature Conservancy, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH-CTAHR) Kaua`i Agricultural Research Center, Hawaii Water Environment Association, Kodani and Associates Engineers, Inc., NOAA Marine Mammal and Sea Turtles Program and from DOW staff and retirees.
For more information about Make a Splash Festival or DOW’s conservation and educational outreach programs, contact the Department of Water at 808-245-5455. To learn more about Project WET, visit www.projetwet.org.
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 A Wilcox Elementary student shows off her claypot ecosystem after it is restored. This activity demonstrated environmental rehabilitation after a disaster or environmental impact event.
 King Kaumuali'i Elementary students at the Make a Splash Festival with DOW's Ryan Fu (center) who assists with the Project WET activity.
 Students conduct pH testing on a variety of liquids during the Reclaim Water activity conducted by Aqua Engineers, Inc.
 Kalaheo students learn about groundwater as they participate in a groundwater pumping activity during the Department of Water's Make a Splash festival on Sept. 20, 2024
More event pics available via www.facebook.com/KauaiDOW.
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