SNOQUALMIE – Mount Si students are getting their feet wet, literally, with a unique partnership that will find them working with the city to improve the water quality of Kimball Creek.

While the project will benefit students in a number of ways, it will also pay dividends for the community that has come to live with the polluted creek.

Beginning this month, science students from Mount Si High School will conduct sampling from the creek. The samples, to be taken about twice a month, will be tested by the students and city of Snoqualmie Wastewater Treatment staff. Results from the tests will be used to create a report on the stream that suffers from pollution caused by fecal matter from a number of sources entering the waterway.

“It blends a lot of different interests,” said Mike McCarty, assistant planner for the city of Snoqualmie.

Mount Si High School science teacher Andrew Rapin said the project allows students a hands-on approach to science and will work to get valuable information out to the community.

Rapin expects to begin testing with about 25 advanced placement biology students, but hopes to increase the number of students as the project grows.

McCarty said a 2001 city of Snoqualmie report confirmed what previous studies have shown: Kimball Creek suffers from fecal coliform bacteria. The presence of fecal coliform bacteria indicates that the water has been contaminated with the fecal matter of man or animal.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record