The Youth Water Summit, held at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, will bring together students from eight regional schools. This program aims to connect students with their watershed and encourage them to find solutions to water quality issues in the region. The Confluence Project, a year-long program that pairs scientific experts with high schools in North Idaho, culminates in this summit.
Throughout the year, students develop a question related to a real-world water resource issue, conduct research, and propose a solution. At the summit, they present their research projects to over 60 volunteer judges. The Confluence Project engaged nearly 300 students with North Idaho’s natural resources through on-site studies and classroom work, including collecting bugs from a local river to test water quality and measuring snowpack at a local ski hill.
Partners from various organizations, including the University of Idaho, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Trout Unlimited, and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, worked together to mentor and assist students with hands-on experiences and data collection in the field. Peter Youngblood, an NRCS hydrologist, highlighted the importance of educating and inspiring students to care for natural resources, as they are the future stewards of the environment.
The top three teams from each school will be recognized for their outstanding work in addressing water resource issues at this year’s Youth Water Summit. Subjects to be explored include the impact of stormwater on river water quality
