New rain garden takes root at Healdsburg High

Out in front of Healdsburg High School sits a new rain garden
with lofty goals: to continue to educate students this fall, and
filter runoff from the school’s parking lot come winter.
“The benefit is not only to the residents of Sonoma County
because the river will be cleaner, it’s also a fantastic and
excellent lesson for our students in environmental awareness and
improvement. For it to be right in front of the school, our
students get to see the important contribution made by the Russian
River Keepers, and the students are going to be able to make a
difference,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeff Harding.
The rain garden was installed by local non-profit Russian
Riverkeeper, and will capture and filter over 1,200 gallons of
water coming from the school’s driveway, parking lot, and rooftops.
The garden will remove oil and metals from the storm water as it
passes through, preventing contaminants from reaching the Russian
River.
“Microbes in the soil will break down the oil,” said Russian
Riverkeeper executive director Don McEnhill, noting that a similar
technique was used for the Gulf oil spill.
“Trash and floatable things will get hung up here. Dirt and
sediment will be trapped, and not end up in the river. In a simple
sense, we’re slowing the storm water down… and sinking it in as
well,” McEnhill said.
But the garden’s function extends beyond its environmental
impact. McEnhill and Harding want the garden to have an academic
impact, too.
“We developed a program to teach students about the problems of
storm water, and give them the ability to go out and explore the
campus with the information they learned, and implement solutions
on campus to have a measurable impact on the Russian River,” said
McEnhill.
Teacher Becky Deniz has helped lead the effort on-campus. She
incorporated storm water information and exploration in her Earth
Sciences class last year, and plans to do the same again this
year.
“Incorporating it into my Earth Sciences curriculum was a really
easy fit. We study the water cycle, and I think it [the garden]
applies and brings a hands-on, practical aspect to learning. It
also enables the students to take pride in what they’re learning,
and have an impact not only on the school but also on their
environment,” Deniz said.
Deniz is working on developing a substantive storm water
curriculum that could be used at other schools in Sonoma County and
beyond, with her Earth Sciences class serving as the pilot program.
Meanwhile, McEnhill is working on installing a 150 foot bioswale to
provide storm water filtration for the other side of the parking
lot.
Cats 4 U donated two days of labor to help build the rain
garden. Funding for the project was provided by the Healdsburg Area
Fund of the Community Foundation of Sonoma County (CFCS) as well as
proceeds from the Great Russian River Race.
“We are thrilled to announce that in late July we got a grant
from the Community Foundation,” McEnhill said. “We have not only
the funds to continue the project here, but to expand to Windsor
High School in the future.”
Lynda Hopkins can be reached at [email protected].