Learn More About Water Stewards Program on Tuesday

This Tuesday, you can learn more about a program designed to train volunteers to become "master water stewards"—reducing the flow of bacteria, salt, litter, sediment, fertilizer and other pollutants into rivers, lakes and wetlands

The Master Water Stewards program is wrapping up its debut year in Minneapolis, where 25 volunteers were trained and certified to counsel their neighbors about how best to fight stormwater runoff. 

It's expanding in 2014 to Edina and other western suburbs along Minnehaha Creek, and from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 17 you can attend an informational meeting at Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, 15320 Minnetonka Boulevard, in Minnetonka. Snacks will be given.

Participants in the program take 50 hours of free training in evening classes over the course of a year and commit to volunteering 50 hours the following year.

“It’s not just about getting a certification and then talking to neighbors,” Peggy Knapp of the non-profit Freshwater Society, which organized the classes, told the Star Tribune. “We’re asking people to take action, which we think is really attractive to a lot of folks.”