H20 in the Grove
Research, stories and facts from Western Washington County's Watershed
brought to you by students of the Forest Grove Community School in Oregon
Research, stories and facts from Western Washington County's Watershed
brought to you by students of the Forest Grove Community School in Oregon
Two years ago, Clean Water Services (CWS) created a 2 acre experimental wetland.
They wanted to see if it could serve as waste-water treatment facility, while serving as a home for plants, animals and insects. CWS wanted to take their chemical process to treat waste water and turn it into a more natural process. The water that leaves Fernhill Wetlands goes into the Tualatin River, so it's important that the water is the healthiest it can be! It worked! So, this fall (2104) the 90 acre waste-water ponds were reconstructed to act like the experimental wetlands. They reconstructed the flat bottom treatment wetlands to be contoured. This helps to mimic nature's wetlands and helps a variety of plants to grow. The variety of plants would help shade and cool the water. And cool water helps plants and animals survive. The old wetlands had 23 different plant species with 80% cover. With the change the new wetlands had 36 different plant species and 95% cover. We, the students of the Forest Grove Community School were invited to do original research project at the wetlands to see how the renovation efforts affected an area of science we were interested in, but also could provide long-term monitoring data.
Use the links above to learn about one of our amazing research projects.