Recently awarded with a $19,750 grant from the trustees of the Hans & Margaret Doe Charitable Trust at San Diego Foundation, the Sweetwater Authority is set to begin the creation of a watershed exhibit at the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center. The exhibit will highlight the historical significance of the Sweetwater watershed, Sweetwater Dam, and the Authority’s role in providing water to the community.
Sweetwater Authority will create the computerized portion of the exhibit, featuring a monitor displaying videos, photos, and interactive components to engage and educate museum visitors. This portion of the exhibit will be integrated into a larger, wooden kiosk, designed and funded by the Museum, featuring a 3D model of the Sweetwater River watershed, along with photos and informational panels. Together, these components will create a permanent exhibit to enrich the community’s understanding of their water supply and provider.
“We are extremely grateful to the Doe Charitable Trust for their generous support,” said Board Chair Hector Martinez. “This project is a testament to the power of partnerships and underscores the Authority’s firm commitment to serving our community through education and outreach. The grant also exemplifies the Authority’s ongoing efforts to seek alternative funding sources to minimize costs for our ratepayers.”
Authority General Manager Carlos Quintero said in the Authority’s part of the exhibit, the idea is that the Authority will create some type of video content that can be shared with the museum’s component of the exhibit.
“Hopefully we can use video and audio as needed,” he said. “We expect the cost of developing the content to be about $40,000, and the grant should cover about half of this cost.”
Authority principal public affairs representative Gwyneth Shoecraft said it costs quite a bit to create the video elements of the exhibit, but these components are “evergreen.”
“They will exist in the exhibit for a long time and have educational components,” she said. “So, we can use them elsewhere as well, which is valuable. We are grateful to the Hans & Margaret Doe Charitable Trust for seeing the value in this partnership and this exhibit.”
Quintero said for the time frame for this exhibit, they will be consulting during the first part of 2024 and then will have a proposal ready for viewing.
“The educational component is so critical to future generations to understand, not only the value of the water supply, but to also understand the importance of the protection of the watershed, and the historical significance of it as well,” said Shoecraft.
Bonita Museum & Cultural Center Director Wendy Wilson Gibson said this is an exciting project.
“It is going to be in the History gallery,” she said. “It is a permanent exhibit that talks about the Sweetwater Dam. It also stresses the importance of water with the watershed model showing people how the water flows down from the mountains to the bay. The video will be integrated with a three-dimensional exhibit, with historical pictures of the dam, and also touchable items like the watershed that we use for education for the school tours.”
The Bonita Museum serves over 600 students from local schools a year and provides bussing for visiting classes. Outside of school visitors, the museum sees over 15,000 visitors a year.
Gibson said students will be able to see the topography of the Sweetwater Reservoir, how it connects to the Sweetwater Valley, and to the bay. Gibson said the museum is still looking for funding for its part of the exhibit and will be looking for sponsors.
“Many times, the way we fund projects is by taking small donations from community members,” she said. “We will be reaching out to the community who would like to help sponsor this exhibit. We would like to have this exhibit done in 2024.”
For more information on the Authority’s educational efforts and community partnerships, visit www.sweetwater.org/education.
