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The Mobile River

We bring the River to you

Discover Our Award-Winning Program

The Mobile River is a traveling water science center that brings the river directly to the schools of 7th graders in the Texas Colorado River basin.

Launched in 2015 in partnership with the Austin Independent School District (AISD) and Austin Water, our hands-on exhibit is designed to connect students to their water source and teach them the importance of planning and preparing for the future in an engaging and exciting way. This program is especially valuable for schools that may not have the funding or support to take field trips to visit the river.

The Mobile River program also equips educators to deliver up to three in-classroom lessons covering the topics of:

  • Texas ecoregions and weathering
  • Runoff and infiltration
  • Water conservation

All lessons are TEKS-aligned and designed to bring real-world experiences into the classroom. Hands-on materials are provided to facilitate critical-thinking and encourage the use of scientific techniques.

Winner of the 2017 Texas Environmental Excellence Award for Education

We're definitely going to need to know all this stuff in the future. [Water] is a current issue people need to deal with. We can't really deal with it if we don't know.

EvelynStudent, Lamar Middle School

Experience the Mobile River

The Mobile River program features interactive models and fun, educational videogames housed inside a 42-foot trailer.

As of September 2018 over 30,000 Texans in Central Texas and across the Colorado River basin have learned about protecting and preserving their water resources well into the future, thanks to the Mobile River program.

Try one of the custom videogames made for the Mobile River

Let us come to you

School Visits

The Mobile River currently visits all AISD middle schools and spends one to two weeks every semester visiting schools upstream and downstream of Austin. Due to the volume of schools we visit the fulfillment of visitation requests cannot be guaranteed, but we are happy to consider schools outside of AISD on a case-by-case basis.

Public and Private Events

The exhibit frequently appears at large community events in Austin and across the Colorado River basin, such as festivals and county fairs. If you are interested in having the Mobile River make an appearance at your event, please click to contact our Program Manager >>

For questions, please contact our Program Manager

It is critically important for Austin’s children, our future leaders, to understand the value of water and the Colorado River. The Mobile River teaches these concepts and has fun doing it. We are proud to partner on such a successful and impactful program.

Greg MeszarosAustin Water Director

Thank you to our partners who supported the development and creation of the Mobile River