Water Program Launch

[Jun 4]

Anderson Valley Unified School District and Mendocino County Resource Conservation District are excited to invite you to our DROPS Rain Garden/Rainwater Catchment Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at Anderson Valley Unified Jr/Sr High School. The event will happen on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, from 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. on the Anderson Valley Jr/Sr High School Campus, 18200 Mountain View Rd., Boonville. Festivities include a tour and explanation of the new gardens and rainwater catchment systems by project leads and students, brief comments by organizers, education about low impact development stormwater strategies, and general information about the project.

What is the DROPS project?

AVUSD received a State Water Resources Control Board grant called DROPS (Drought Response Outreach Program for Schools) to install stormwater pollution prevention infrastructure at Anderson Valley Jr/Sr High and Elementary School campuses. The purpose of the project is to protect water quality in Robinson and Con Creeks, and the Navarro River. Anderson Valley Unified School District is one of 32 schools statewide to receive this grant. During the summer of 2018 and winter 2018/2019, AVUSD installed 6,030 square feet of filter strips/raingardens, and three rainwater catchment tanks totaling 9000-gallons of storage capacity between the two AVUSD campuses.

What will it do?

Rain gardens and filter basins are vegetated areas designed to intercept flowing water and clean it of pollutants, such as oil, gas, heavy metals and litter. The rainwater catchment systems demonstrate the passive collection of rainwater during the rainy season for use during the summer dry season months. The stormwater elements installed at AVUSD campuses will capture and clean up to 1.5 million gallons of stormwater each year! AVUSD faculty and students have been integral to the implementation of the grant, assisting with the installation of California native/Mediterranean, drought tolerant, pollinator friendly landscaping, conducting water quality monitoring, creek clean-ups, and designing murals for the rainwater catchment tanks.

We are overjoyed to complete this project and feel great that we are doing everything we can to improve our impact on the environment. This project provides ecological benefits, campus beautification, and it engages our students. Please join us for our celebration!