In 2011, we traveled to Newman Grove to tell the story of the Shell Creek Monitoring Program, a summer program where high school students volunteer to spend the summer wading through the creek and testing the water and soil for various factors that can contribute to erosion and water quality degradation.

The benefits of the program are twofold: students gain confidence and learn responsibility by managing a program that allows them to apply science in a real-world setting and the surrounding agriculture community gains important data to better understand, monitor, and preserve the important water source.

As a result of the students’ work, in collaboration with many different community organizations, the Shell Creek Watershed has been officially removed from the Impaired Waters list. This is the first time in history for a successful delisting of a water for Atrazine contamination, which is the direct result of the comprehensive watershed management plan. 

Getting the Shell Creek Watershed removed from the Impaired Waters list was a true community effort. Learn how the water clad, science-loving students from Newman Grove High School contributed to saving the Shell Creek Watershed, and as a result, gained experience that influenced many future careers.