"The Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) class at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School had a very good year in 2004.

Students working on the Mission Santa Ines Aqueduct Mapping project found their work included in the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society museum, published in three magazines, had been awarded the Geospatial Solutions Outstanding Project Award -- beating out college and U.S. Army entries -- and received the California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation.

Tuesday morning, EAST students presented evidence of their latest accomplishment, tracking down remnants of the lost dam, built in the early 1800s, that fed the aqueduct.

"We wanted to finish the story we started last year," said project member Erik Glendinning.

EAST teacher Chip Fenenga reported that geographic information science (GIS) data, along with historic records found by students Erin Gnekow and Breanna Schlags, indicated that a dam was built along Alamo Pintado Creek to feed the Mission's aqueduct. Yet even after tracing the path of the aqueduct, "We could not find the dam when we looked in 2004," said Fenenga.

The final piece of the award-winning project seemed lost in the passage of time.

That changed on Thursday, March 24. Six students , armed with GPS units and cameras ventured into the creek bed near the Creekside housing development for another attempt to find the dam..." Continue reading this article at syvnews.com