Water District presents local schools with $17,000 check
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

For 13 years, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District has donated books and funds to the Las Virgenes Unified School District to promote water conservation and environmental awareness.

In addition, LVMWD customer service and public affairs manager Jeff Reinhardt presented a $17,000 check this year for continued support of the school district's fourth- and fifth-grade science program.

The printed material includes booklets describing common plants and animals found in ponds, lakes, streams and marshes, along with suggestions on where to find the species. There's also a book on how to create safe and inexpensive household cleaners.

"Clean House, Clean Planet," by Karen Logan, examines the chemicals found in commercial products and why simple homemade recipes may be kinder to the environment.

Another book, "Droughts" by Michael Woods, is especially apropos for young Californians. The book explains how droughts differ from other disasters in that they don't begin and end suddenly, but still have a major impact on the environment.

The young readers will also have access to "The Water Cycle," a book by Bobbie Kalman that features colorful pictures and easy to understand content on water cycles, pollution and other concepts that will help young people to better understand their environment.

A total of eight books were donated to the Las Virgenes elementary school libraries.

Reinhardt said he hopes that once children learn about water issues and the environment in school they will "take the message home."