Closed Captions Audio Described

A series of interviews conducted in the Missoula, Montana area exploring how residents understand their drinking water sources and local watersheds. Participants from various backgrounds—including adults from Houston, Nova Scotia, Cleveland, and Denver, as well as local children—discuss their awareness of water origins, watershed systems, and water conservation. The interviews reveal varying levels of knowledge about the Clark Fork watershed and Missoula aquifer that supplies the region.

Transcript

0:05 OK. All right. Could you um tell us where your, where does your drinking water come from?
0:14 Um This
0:17 tell him we're from Houston and our drinking water is from Lake Houston, which is, I believe on the
0:27 river Trinity River. So your water comes from service. How does it taste? not real good It tastes a lot like it has a lot of chlorine in it. It's about all you taste. OK. Do you know the name of Watership? Wow, Trinity River? No, I don't, but I would think it was Trinity River watershed. Good. That was good.
0:51 We look like fools I know. So, um do you know where your drinking water comes from? Uh Well, it comes from the top, that's the end, that's the end result. Uh Where, where does it come from? I'm sure there's, there's a major processing before that. And then uh here in Missoula, I'm not sure, but uh I would say it comes from its mountain runoff through the, through the rivers and then it's,
1:16 it's uh refined here and uh and then through the taps. How about your original home? Do you know where uh drinking water comes from? Where you come from uh in, no, in Nova Scotia. Um Not, not exactly sure. Um Sure it would be some sort of, some sort of lake or, or river running running into our purification. All right, thanks. Um Do you happen to know the name of the watershed that you're in, or? No? No, do not.
1:41 Thanks. And um where does our water come from? Ok. All right. Um Do you know where your drinking water comes from? Um, I'm not sure. I think that it might come from. Well, I live in the city and so, um, we have like a, a city water system
2:06 and I'm not sure other than that. I used to live out of town and then my water came from a well and I knew a lot more where it came from then and specifics about it, but I don't anymore because I just moved into the city a few months ago. So, and when you drank from the, well, did you have a well in your own yard or your backyard? Yeah, in my own backyard. So, did you test your, well, in that kind of thing? Um,
2:28 no, we didn't test our well, but it was tested. It gets, you know, it was tested like I'm not sure how often, probably every couple of years would be my guess. So, how deep was your, well, I don't know, I don't know how deep it was but I know that in the house that I lived in,
2:50 there was a well in the backyard and the landlord tested it and took care of everything with it. So. Ok. And uh do you know what watershed you're in? Um No, I don't. What does that mean? I don't even know what that means. The watershed is a place of land where it empties into a bed of water. Ok. So if you have a mountain the mountain releases
3:11 The water after it rains that will flow into a river. That's the watershed. Ok. So it's what's flowing the water where the water's flowing to. So well in Missoula we have like an aquifer, I think. And I'm not sure, I don't know if the water comes from there or not. Yes it does. That's what I thought. Do you know where your drinking water comes from? I kind of do and I kind of don't,
3:35 I assume it comes from under Mount Sentinel because we have one of the biggest aquifers there and cleanest. And um, it depends where in the city, I know some people have like private wells and then a lot of people have city water, but that's ok. How about back home? Do you know where your breaking water comes from in Cleveland?
3:55 Yeah. Well, um, I love a suburb of Cleveland. So I have a, we have a private, well, is the well in your backyard? Yes, it's a private well in our backyard. Um, we've got two of them, one for our barn, one for our house. How does it taste? Really good It's really deep. It's good. Cold. Oh good. That's it.
4:18 Do you know where your drinking water comes from? Uh from reservoirs up in the mountains? Alright. And um reservoirs up in the mountains. Do you know what part of the watershed that's part of? I do not, I do not. All I know is that there's, they've built reservoirs to supply water to the Denver area and in the area that I live, a lot of it comes from the Clear Creek District,
4:41 which is Gilpin County. And so that's where the water comes down from. And the water that comes to your house, is that on the other side of the mountains or is that on the mountains you live on? It's probably the mountains we live in. So it's probably on the west or the eastern slopes of the rocky mountains. How does the water taste? Not bad Not as good as Montana water. Do you buy water, bottled water when you're
5:04 not? We use drinking water right from the tap, that it, That's it Oh,
5:10 ok. All right. Uh, do you know where does your drinking water come from? It comes from a series of wells that are drilled here in the Missoula aquifer. Uh, the Montana uh water company. Is that, no, it's the mountain water company, uh, has a series of wells right here in the Missoula area that, that supply all our tap water. And do you know the name of your watershed?
5:35 Uh this would be the Clark Fork watershed. And can you tell us a little bit about the watershed and how the water gets there? Well, uh most of it comes from snow pack uh up in the mountains. Uh There's five valleys that uh join here in the Missoula area. Uh The water flows downstream and, and also uh into gravel beds uh that are our aquifer And what's the connection between the watershed and the
5:58 aquifer as far as you for your drinking water? Well, I think there's probably a direct connection. Um, water runs not only downstream but underground and uh uh our water is filtered through all the, the sediments and, and gravels and, and rocks that it passes through. Um, and I think it sits about 75 ft below us here, um, and supplies millions of gallons every day to the people of Missoula. And how about as far as, um,
6:23 how you treat your watershed? Does that affect your drinking water? Uh It does, uh, because there's a lot of things you can do in the, in the upper watershed for sure, that changes uh whether your snow pack uh makes it into the ground or not. Um how, how you log at high elevations, how you build roads, um what you do in terms of uh uh chemical use. There's a whole range of things that can affect your water throughout the watershed. Thanks. Anything else you want to add?
6:48 Hm. I don't think so. The water is good here. Ok, good thanks.
6:58 Hi, Tanner. How are you doing? Good, good. So, Tanner. Do you like to go swimming? Yeah. All right. Do you like water a lot? Yeah. Do you like to drink water? Yeah. Do you know where your drinking water comes from? Um, no. Have you ever thought about what you drink your water comes from? Hm. In rivers, cricks, lakes. And do you live in the city or do you live in the country?
7:23 I'm not really sure. I live in Lolo but I'm not sure. You live in the town of Lolo? So when you turn on the faucet, where do you think the water comes from?
7:35 The pipes? The water pipes? Ok. Thanks Tanner. Super job. And do you ever think of ways you can conserve water? What? That's ok, Tanner. Nice job, Tanner. Thanks. Bye. All right. What's your name? Trevor. And, Trevor where are you from?
7:58 Where do you live at?
8:00 I'm from I live at my grandma's house for now until, until, until I get to go back to Louisiana. Ok. And, uh, Trevor, do you like water? Yes. Do you like to play in water? Do you like to swim in it? Yes All right. Good. Good. Tell me. Um, do you ever think about where your drinking water comes from? Yeah. Where does your drinking water come from?
8:25 Rivers?
8:27 Any place else?
8:30 the ocean
8:33 Ok, thanks. Good job. What's your name? Brianna? Brianna, you don't have to Rihanna Brianna. You don't have to lean into the microphone. You can just stand there like that and the sound will come right from you and go into the microphone. Rihanna, Ray Rihanna Rihanna. Do you like water? Yes, you do. And do you go swimming in the water?
8:57 Yes, because my sister does scuba diving. So every, every year we go up to flathead lake at least 20 times each year because my sister goes scuba diving. And do you like to taste and drink water? Yes. I think water is much better than pop orange juice or milk. And when you go get your drinking water, do you ever think about where it comes from?
9:22 Do you know where your drinking water comes from? Yes. Where does it come from? It comes from the very own rivers and things it gets filtered and then it goes into bottles or something and then you drink it. Thanks Rianna. That was great. Was awesome. Shannon. Shannon. You know what the sound of your voice will reach the microphone. So you don't have to lean in.
9:45 You can just stand there just like that. Ok. All right, Shannon, um tell me, where are you from, Lolo, Lolo? And how long have you lived in Lola? My whole life And uh do you have a dog? Yes. Great. Now tell me, do you like to play in water or go swimming sometimes? Yes. What's your favorite place to swim.
10:09 I don't really know. That's all right. Tell me when you drink water. Do you ever think about where it comes from? No. All right. Do you know where your drinking water comes from? No.
10:22 Ok. And, uh, do you ever think about it when you taste it when you turn the faucet just what it is where it's from? No
10:32 Thanks. Good job. Um,
10:37 Montana. All right. Do you like Montana? Yes. Ok, good. And tell me, um, do you ever go swimming in the lakes in Montana? Um, sometimes and sometimes not. Yeah. And do you like water? Uh, yes, I do. Do you like to drink water? Uh, yes, When you're thirsty after a hard bike ride? Yeah. Tell me,
11:01 do you know where your drinking water comes from? No. Have you ever thought about where your drinking water comes from? Uh, yes. Where do you think it might come from? Um, from a lake? Which one? Uh, I don't know The lake. Yeah. And, um, when you turn on your water and you're drinking it,
11:26 do you like, what, what does it taste like to you? Um, it tastes like nothing Tastes like nothing? And, uh, where do you think that nothing comes from? Uh, I don't know.
11:39 Nice job. Thanks. Good job, Montana. Big State, isn't it? Yeah. And, uh, do you like to go swimming in the lakes and rivers? Have you ever been canoeing? Yeah. Once. Do you ever go fishing? No. So, you went canoeing once? And that was fun. How about, uh, drinking water? Do you, do you like to drink water or do you prefer, like pop or what do you like to drink?
12:03 It doesn't really matter only if there's something I drink Good. And when you do drink your water, do you know where your drinking water comes from in your house? No, I don't. You ever guess, maybe think about where it starts from? I don't know.
12:21 Have you ever drank rain water? No, I was just curious.
12:28 Good. That's a cool bandana you got there. Yeah. Brand new, neat. Now, um, tell me what's your name? Robin Robin? Where are you from Robin? Kalispell
12:41 Kalispell? That's a long ways away, isn't it? Yeah. And Robin, do you like water? Like to play in water? Yes. And what's your favorite thing to do in water? Swim Good. Can you swim a lot? Yes. What's your favorite stroke? Um the back stroke. Good. Tell me, Robin. Do you like to drink water? Yes. When you drink water from your house? Do you ever wonder where it comes from or where it starts?
13:05 Where, how does your drinking water get there? Yeah Where does it come from? The ocean
13:12 And uh, how does it get to your house? Um, people like, clean it out from the salt water and bring it to fridges and stuff and then you have to plug it into electricity to make water.
13:28 Thank you very much Robin. That was great. How you doing? Good. How old are you? 8 8, I, I could have guessed that. Yeah. And what's your name? Seth. Seth, where are you from, Seth?
13:42 Lolo, Lolo. And how long have you lived in Lolo? Seth My whole life. All right. So, it's a long time. And Seth. Do you like to play in water or swim in it every now and then? Yeah. Uh huh. Where's your favorite lake to swim in? Salmon Lake Cool. And Seth? Tell me when you're really thirsty and you go to the faucet and turn on your faucet. Do you ever wonder where your drinking water comes from? Yes
14:08 Where does it come from, Seth?
14:11 The sewer. And how do they get it to the house Seth? Rain and Seth? How do they clean it? Um, filter?
14:22 Thank you much, Seth.
14:26 Hey, how you doing? Ok. Where are you from, Jason? Um, I'm from Lolo. How long have you lived in Lolo? I don't know. All right. And, uh, Jason, tell me, do you like to play in water? Yeah. What's your favorite thing to do in water? Swim Cool. And what's your favorite stroke? Backwards Good.
14:50 And, uh, when you're really hot and thirsty and you go to the faucet and turn on your water. Do you ever wonder where your drinking water comes from? No, if you were to imagine where it came from. Where do you think it comes from?
15:06 I don't know. Thanks a lot. Seth. I mean, it's Jason. Right. Thanks, Jason. Good job.

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