IWRP Adopt-A-Stream Program
is a community-based program which seeks to monitor the long-term health of local streams and involve students in a “hands-on” learning experience that contributes to the understanding and protection of community water resources. Each month, physical, chemical and biological data are collected from the following headwater streams of the Río Guacimal watershed: the Quebradas Cuecha, Sucia and Rodríguez. Occasional sampling also is conducted on other area streams such as the Río San Luis and the Quebradas Alondra and Máquina among others. |
Figure 1. Río Guacimal Watershed. (Welch, 2008)
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Participants come from 4 local high schools and a co-ed scout group. Following each annual monitoring cycle, local students work in groups to manipulate data, make temporal and spatial comparisons, and present their results in a public forum.
Academic programs that visit the Monteverde Institute are also welcome to take part in stream monitoring activities in order to experience our local reality as well as learn how they can lead similar programs within their own community. Contact IWRP Coordinator, Justin Welch, to learn more. |
Figure 2. Headwater Streams of the Upper Río Guacimal Watershed (Welch, 2008) |
Our local partner institutions include the following: |
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Colegio Técnico Profesional de Santa Elena (CTPSE). CTPSE is the only public high school of the Monteverde region. Their monitoring sites are located in one of the most urbanized catchments of the region, along Quebrada Rodríguez near downtown Santa Elena. This stream flows through residential and commercial areas that exhibit significant development along the stream edge as well as a high concentration of impervious surfaces. (Learn more about CTPSE at: http://www.colegiosantaelena.org) |
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Escuela Adventista (EA). EA is the smallest private high school in the region. Their newest monitoring site is located downstream of a residential area on the Quebrada Sucia and is one of the most heavily impacted stream reaches in the area. |
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Escuela Creativa (CEC). Escuela Creativa is a private bi-lingual high school that places an emphasis on environmental studies within their overall curriculum. This team collects data from the Quebrada Sucia, upstream of the major residential areas. (Learn more about CEC at: http://www.cloudforestschool.org/) |
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Monteverde Friends School. The MFS is a private bi-lingual high school established by the well-known Quaker community of Monteverde. Students from this group monitor water quality at a downstream site along the Quebrada Cuecha. This stream flows from the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and is influenced by agricultural and commercial activities along the outskirts of forest reserves. (Learn more about MFS at: http://www.mfschool.org/) |
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Junior Rangers. Junior Rangers are a co-ed scout group with participants that range in age from elementary school to recent high school graduates. The oldest Rangers take monthly samples from headwaters of the Quebrada Cuecha, a site located within the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. This sub-catchment drains primary and secondary forests and represents the most natural conditions of all the sites. |
| *Special gratitude is owed to our long-time supporters at Bosqueterno, S.A who are committed to the conservation of freshwater resources in Monteverde. |
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