About 900 fifth-graders will learn firsthand about water use and conservation during Water Festival 2010 Sept. 28-30 at the Flint RiverQuarium.

Held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, the Water Festival will give students hands-on educational experiences on topics such as water and its effect on animals, standing water and mosquitoes, agricultural water use, water and soil erosion, and non-point source pollution. To accommodate the number of students, the event will have 10 education stations or workshops with information and presentations about various themes.

The goal of the event is to educate students about uses of water and encourage them to incorporate conservation methods into their daily lives, according to Linda Means, administrative specialist/coordinator with the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center, one of the event organizers.

“We want to help conserve, reserve and protect this precious resource,” she said. “The water we have now is all the water we’re going to have. Without water there is no life.”

In the “Sammy the Striped Bass” workshop, students will learn about the importance of water for animals and the importance of keeping water clean. In another workshop, students will learn about the life cycle of mosquitoes and how to prevent mosquito breeding.

“We hope the students will play a part in conservation and share the info with their parents about water conservation,” Means said.

This year will be the eighth Water Festival. Sponsors include the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center, Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful, and the Flint RiverQuarium. For more information, contact Means at 430-2900.