Austin Youth River Watch, Austin

Since 1991, Austin Youth River Watch (AYRW) has provided high-quality, multi-year environmental education programs primarily for minority students from Austin’s public high schools, eight of which are Title I campuses. Each year, AYRW engages 90–120 high school students in after-school and summer programs and operates a small alumni internship program.

Through these programs, students collect, analyze, and publish water quality data at 20 sites along the Colorado River and its tributaries. AYRW students collect approximately 24 full datasets per year and share this data through the Lower Colorado River Authority’s Colorado River Watch Network.

In addition to collecting data, the students complete 8–10 small-scale restoration projects and 2–3 large-scale community projects annually, including creek cleanups, invasive species removal, and plantings of trees and native grasses. These watershed restoration projects restore riparian habitats to increase biodiversity, reduce erosion, and improve infiltration along the river.