Santa Fe Girls School students donned waders and scooped up water samples Thursday from the Santa Fe River, on a few acres of land girls have come to know well over the last decade.

The middle-school girls were among hundreds of students from 80 schools in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico who tested water quality along the Rio Grande and its tributaries as part of World Water Monitoring Day.

Worldwide students tested river water, slowly building a database to track water quality trends along major waterways.

In New Mexico, water quality data are shared with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, other land agencies and watershed groups.

The small, private Santa Fe Girls School is among 20 around the state that work with the New Mexico Watershed Watch, a project of River Source, a Santa Fe consulting firm. River Source connects schools with agencies that can use the data and provides technical assistance and $3,000 in equipment. "That makes a big difference because students don't just use the data in the classroom, they connect with the community," said Rich Schrader, director of River Source.

The data from many schools and other water monitoring groups are also shared publicly on www.watershedwiser.org.

A decade ago, the Girls School leased a parcel of land along the Santa Fe River downstream from the city's wastewater treatment plant. River Source began working with the school eight years ago. They removed hundreds of non-native Russian olive trees, installed water level monitoring stations, planted native vegetation, collected water quality samples and monitored wildlife species. They collected both audio and photos of wildlife and plants.

Through the school year, the students work at the preserve frequently. Their work fulfills parts of the science, math and public speaking state standards, among others. At the end of each school year, the students give a multimedia presentation and compare the new data collected with prior years.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.