Coldharrow Dam Release Meeting: A Water Careers Role-Play

1. Set up (5 min). Arrange groups of five and give each group one set of role cards and five copies of the Student Handout. If a group has four students, one student takes both the dam operator card and the hydropower scheduler card, so the four requests on the handout stay as printed.

2. Assign roles (5 min). Each student reads a role card aloud to the group. The five roles are the dam operator, the hydropower scheduler, the fisheries biologist, the irrigation district manager, and the city water manager. Every card names the job's education path so students hear five different routes into the water sector during this step.

3. State the problem (5 min). Read this aloud to the class. Coldharrow Dam holds back the Pikesford River. In July the dam can release 12,000 acre-feet, and no more, because the reservoir must hold the rest for late summer. The four water users have asked for a combined total larger than that. The group's meeting must end with a release plan that fits inside 12,000 acre-feet.

4. Round one, the math (15 min). Each student completes handout questions 1 through 6 individually, then the group compares answers and settles on one set. Circulate and check that groups divide the shortfall by the total request rather than by the reservoir amount when they find the percent cut. This is the formative check for the period.

5. Round two, the negotiation (15 min). Groups now try to beat the equal percent cut. Each role argues for keeping more, using the reason printed on the role card. The group must reach a plan totaling exactly 12,000 acre-feet, and every role must sign it. A group that cannot agree within the fifteen minutes records the equal percent cut as its plan and notes which role refused.

6. Record the decision (5 min). Each student completes handout question 7 alone, naming which request the group protected and which group in the valley pays for that choice.

7. Debrief (5 min). Ask two groups to post their plans on the board beside the equal percent cut. Ask the class which plan they would defend at a public meeting and why. Close with the question that ends the activity: when there is not enough water, does cutting every request by the same percent produce a fair result?

Role cards

Copy this section and cut it into five cards, one for each member of the group. The requests on the cards are the same ones printed in the handout table.

Dam operator. You run Coldharrow Dam and answer for every acre-foot that leaves it. You make no request of your own. Your job in the meeting is to hold the total at 12,000 acre-feet, read each plan back to the group, and say plainly when a plan does not add up. You started as a maintenance worker at the dam, trained on the job, and hold a state operator license.

Hydropower scheduler. You asked for 5,000 acre-feet. Water sent through the turbines makes electricity the utility has already promised to customers for hot July afternoons, and buying replacement power on those afternoons costs more than generating it here. You hold a two-year degree in electrical technology.

Fisheries biologist. You asked for 3,000 acre-feet. The trout below the dam need cold water moving through the river in July, because a low river warms quickly in hot weather and fish die when it does. You hold a four-year degree in biology and did a graduate internship on stream temperature.

Irrigation district manager. You asked for 6,000 acre-feet. The farms in the valley planted in spring, and a field that loses its water in July will not recover later in the season. The growers in your district pay for the water they receive. You started as a ditch rider and finished a certificate in water management.

City water manager. You asked for 1,000 acre-feet for the town of Sandsford. It is the smallest request on the list, and it covers drinking water for every household in town. You hold a four-year degree in civil engineering and a state water treatment license.