The 37th annual Wonderful World of Water Festival was held September 16th at Gilman Park in Pierce. Eighteen teams of ninth and tenth grade students from eight schools across Northeast Nebraska descended upon the park for a day of outdoor, hands-on activities and a chance to compete for championship honors.
The day began with registration at Gilman Park followed by the teams competing in a track of hands-on activities focusing on water quality and other natural resources related issues. The teams were then quizzed regarding those sessions to accumulate points for the competition. Following the educational sessions, the teams were given one last chance to extend their point totals by participating in the Dripial Pursuit trivia game. Then while the final totals were being calculated, each team was given the opportunity to participate in the Wonderful World of Water special project.
The special project was Water Rockets, which is a program taught through the Jr. Academy of Sciences. Each school was invited to build water rockets and demonstrate their knowledge of mass, velocity and engineering. The rockets were judged on distance and creativity. Several rockets were launched Wednesday with Allen High School Team 1 coming in first for Farthest Distance Traveled; Creighton High School Team 2 recognized for Shortest Distance Traveled; and, Allen High School Team 3, taking the top place for Most Creative Design.
Following the presentation of the special projects, the winners of the 2026 Northeast Nebraska Wonderful World of Water were announced. The winner of Track 1 was Lutheran High Northeast, consisting of: Isaiah Hafer, Hunter Leffers, Sloane Martinez, Braxton Baldwin and Tucker Anderson. The winning team from Track 2 was Emerson-Hubbard High School Team 2 consisting of: Abe Mueller, Ben Bousquet, Lux Mackling, DeLaney Fuchser, Drayden Nielsen and Taven Kent. First Place teams were awarded USA Flag Wonderful World of Water T-shirts to commemorate their victories.
Schools participating in this year’s event included: Pierce High School, Osmond High School, Wausa High School, Allen High School, Lutheran High Northeast High School, Emerson-Hubbard High School, Elgin High School and Creighton High School.
The Wonderful World of Water program would not be possible without our many natural resources professionals from across the area who volunteer their time each year to share their expertise; and, work with students who might be interested in a career related to natural resources. They come from a variety of agencies including: The Natural Resources Conservation Service; UNL Nebraska Extension; Nebraska Game and Parks; Papio-Missouri River NRD; Upper Elkhorn NRD, Lewis & Clark NRD, Lower Niobrara NRD and, Lower Elkhorn NRD. The Wonderful World of Water was sponsored this year by: the Upper Elkhorn NRD; Lower Elkhorn NRD; Lower Niobrara NRD; and, Lewis and Clark NRD.