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West Craven Middle School now has two rainwater harvesting cisterns to water the school’s new greenhouse and raised bed gardens.

Funded by the Bosch Community Fund, the Harold Bate Foundation and the Craven Community Foundation, Sound Rivers Program Director Clay Barber said this Campus Stormwater Program project fits right in with increased attention on educational opportunities.

“A lot of these rural schools are putting more resources into their Ag and FFA programs, so we’re seeing more garden areas and greenhouses. It’s really cool,” Clay said.

The project initially called for two 2,500-gallon cisterns, but an unexpected offer from Pamlico County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Natural Resource Conservationist Sierra Stickney Digan (formerly Sound Rivers’ stormwater education coordinator) upped the water-storage potential by a thousand gallons.

“Sierra called me one day and asked if we wanted some tanks,” Clay laughed.

Siera said two tanks were going unused at Craven County Soil and Water Conservation District’s building which is shared with the county’s N.C. State Cooperative Extension office. A smaller, 600-gallon tank was delivered to West Craven High School, where Ag teacher William Shaw will incorporate it with WCHS’s existing 3,500-gallon cistern that provides water to the school’s greenhouse. The second, 3,500-gallon cistern found a new home at West Craven Middle School, alongside the one purchased by Sound Rivers and installed by Backwater Environmental.

Getting the tank from Craven County Soil and Water to West Craven Middle School took some work, Clay said.

“Nobody knew the tank was buried about a foot-and-a-half in the ground, so I spent a whole day digging it out,” Clay said.

With his dad’s flatbed truck — borrowed for the occasion — and help from Soil and Water District employees, the next step was to empty it of water.

“We tipped it over so the rest of the water could come out,” Clay said. “It was about 100 gallons.”

Getting the cistern on the flatbed involved a second truck and some good lines.

Now, the two cisterns will collect stormwater runoff from the roof of the school’s gym and work in tandem to store 6,000 gallons of water for greenhouse and garden plants.

“The folks at Craven County Soil and Water were happy to learn the tanks were going to such a good cause,” Clay said.

Sound Rivers Campus Stormwater Program is a partnership with local governments, schools and educators to address stormwater issues on campuses across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds. Stormwater problems are studied, a plan is created and green stormwater infrastructure projects such as rain gardens, rainwater harvesting cisterns and constructed wetlands are installed to address those issues.

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