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Storm Water Retention and Education Project
This project, funded by the California Coastal Commissions "Whale Tail" Grant, will upgrade the existing drainage system on campus to better manage storm water runoff and surface flows reaching Salmon Creek. The impermeable surfaces of buildings, roads, walkways, playgrounds and parking lots on the school site influence Salmon Creek because storm water runoff collects contaminants from paved areas and delivers them, with increased velocity, through the drainage system and straight into the creek. The effect of this “water cannon” delivery is that storm water is not receiving or providing any of the ecosystem benefits that would occur if the water flow was slowed by landscape bio-retention or natural soil filtration before it seeps into the creek or groundwater aquifer.
Our goal is to improve this system through a series of classroom activities and outdoor work. Students will collaborate with professionals in planning and implementing a storm water management system designed to reduce and/or prevent pollutants that impair surface and ground waters.