Tanana Valley Watershed Association

Join us for clean-up fun on the Chena River and Noyes Slough this Saturday!

Hey , STREAM CLEANUP DAY is June 13!

When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 13.

Where: Meet at DNR Chena River Recreation Site off University Ave.

Who: Anyone who wants to help clean Fairbanks‐area waterways – note that children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

Please RSVP [email protected] to reserve a canoe available to experienced paddlers. There is a limited number of canoes reserved based on when RSVP request is received.

To learn more, visit: https://www.tvwatershed.org/stream-cleanup-day

These Summit 3rd-5th grade students weren't deterred by the cold, wet spring. They joyfully conducted water quality monitoring using GLOBE hydrosphere protocols at their two Adopt-A-Stream sites on Beaver Springs Slough! Would you like to adopt a stream? Ask us how!

Our summer field intern, Teslin Brannan (representing Oregon's Linfield University), is among this class of NOAA scholarship/internship winners! She got her start in kindergarten at Salcha School with GLOBE hydrosphere protocols on the 10-year Piledriver Slough study with TVWA. Well done, Teslin! Your school/club/group/student can be involved in an Adopt-A-Stream program, too. Ask us how!

May 20, 2026 — NOAA’s Office of Education has selected 128 Ernest F. Hollings undergraduate scholars for the class of 2026-2028. Scholars receive a two-year academic scholarship for their junior and senior years, a paid summer internship opportunity, and funding to participate in up to two national scientific conferences.

This year, 829 students applied for this competitive scholarship. The selected applicants come from 95 different campuses in 40 U.S. states, Guam, and Washington, D.C.

Congratulations to the 2026 Hollings scholars! The 128 selected applicants come from 95 different campuses in 40 U.S. states, Guam, and Washington, D.C. We can’t wait to see the valuable contributions they’ll make to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) during their internship experience!
https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/hollings-scholarship/news/announcing-2026-hollings-scholarship-recipients

Are you interested in creating sidewalk art? We are currently seeking artists for the 2026 Storm Drain Art project.

Come check out Fairbanks Waste Reduction Week: starting with Earth Day Fair and Makers Market at Ryan Middle School on Saturday April 18th, and finishing with Spring Migration Celebration at Creamer's Field, Saturday April 25th.

Live on or near a waterway or storm drain? You can help!

Let's keep the Chena River clean! 🌊 🌊 🌊 🌊

In 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated that local government agencies in Fairbanks develop, implement, and enforce a Storm Water Management Program to control pollutants being discharged from their storm drain systems to local water bodies.

In response, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, City of Fairbanks, City of North Pole, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, and University of Alaska Fairbanks (each owning segments of the storm drain system in the Fairbanks area) teamed up to create the program and collectively tackle storm water pollution. The program's focus is to improve the water quality of the Chena River, Noyes Slough, Chena Slough, and all other water bodies to which storm water discharges in the Fairbanks area. The program also works to educate and engage the public through school visits, public events and materials.

For more information visit: https://www.fnsb.gov/383/Fairbanks-Storm-Water-Management-Program

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Tanana Valley Watershed Association
Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
City of Fairbanks
North Pole Police Department
University of Alaska Fairbanks

Tanana Valley Watershed Association Field Intern, Teslin Brannan, presented at the 2025 American Water Resources Association Annual Conference in Westminster, Colorado, where she was also the Richard A. Herbert Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship recipient! Teslin began her science research as a kindergartener at Salcha School, partnering with TVWA in a whole-school study of a local slough, and kept on going. Now a sophomore studying Environmental Science at Linfield University, she shared her journey and a field guide to growing the next generation of researchers with other water resource scientists at the conference.

Cub Scout Pack 49 Alaska was a delight to monitor the water quality of the Chena River with! They were filled with enthusiasm and questions, even as the snow flurries fell, and we're so excited that they are one of our Adopt-A-Stream adopters. A big thank you for the continued in-kind program support from the International Arctic Research Center, Education Outreach, UAF GINA, and The GLOBE Program. Contact us if you'd like to Adopt-A-Stream!

Rain and near-freezing temps didn't deter Cub Scout Pack 49 Alaska from learning about watersheds and becoming the latest member of our TVWA Adopt-A-Stream program last Friday! They made their own paper watershed models, complete with homes, schools, and disturbances, demonstrating that what happens upstream doesn't stay upstream as it "rained" in the mountains. Pack members then conducted water quality monitoring for air and water temperature, pH, transparency, and dissolved oxygen at a heavily used site along the Chena River using GLOBE protocols. Thank you for your care and keeping of our waters!

Thank you to our collaborators at the International Arctic Research Center, Education Outreach, and UAF GINA, for donating their time to work with our young scientists.

This year, we are introducing our Adopt-A-Stream program, utilizing GLOBE water quality monitoring protocols, in schools and youth organizations throughout Fairbanks and North Pole! With the support of our friends at the International Arctic Research Center, Education Outreach, the avid scientists pictured are taking measurements the first week of school on the waterway running through their backyard, Beaver Springs Creek!