The award will be presented to City representatives on Friday, March 30, 2007 in Topeka. Nominated by peers of the state’s environmental education field, the WATER Center was praised for outstanding leadership, achievement, collaboration and dedication to “environmental education in Kansas, ” KACEE President Cindy Ford said.

“Environmental education is an important endeavor that we feel is critical to helping preserve and protect Wichita’s environment and water resources,” Kay Johnson, the City of Wichita Environmental Services Director, said.

The WATER Center, which opened in October 2003 at 101 E. Pawnee, was founded after groundwater pollution was discovered in downtown Wichita. The Center’s main purpose is to treat groundwater and to promote groundwater protection, education and conservation, so that natural resources will be protected. Visitors learn how groundwater can become contaminated and are able to see the actual treatment process. The treated groundwater is then used for watering the Herman Hill Park and the City’s many landscaped areas as well as the Center’s fountains, the 1,400-gallon indoor aquarium for small Kansas aquatic creatures and for the 11,000-gallon for Wichita’s largest public outdoor aquarium filled with native Kansas fish.

The WATER Center also offers a variety of environmental education programs and tours. The public can check out kits on topics such as rivers and streams, wetlands, geology, and wildlife, and Family Adventure Packs, backpacks that visitors may use as they explore the Center and Herman Hill Park. The Center has notably seen a steady increase in attendees: 1,296 in 2003, 4,688 in 2004, 6,012 in 2005 and 6,765 in 2006.

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