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Sound Rivers staff paid a visit to West Craven High School this week to film the first in a new series of stormwater education videos.

This first video will feature the rainwater harvesting cistern Sound Rivers installed on the Vanceboro campus, and the stars of the show are Program Assistant Sierra Stickney Digan, agriculture teacher William Shaw, students in one of Shaw’s Ag classes and the greenhouse the rainwater harvesting cistern now furnishes with water.

“We really do want to showcase some of the projects we’ve completed in partnership with public schools across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds, which are part of Sound Rivers’ Campus Stormwater Program,” said Program Director Clay Barber. “I think it’s important for people to see the ways we can treat, and even use, all the stormwater generated by impervious surfaces on these campuses.”

Tuesday turned out to be an ideal day to film the cistern in action — on this rainy day, stormwater runoffwas flowing from the roof of a maintenance building next to the greenhouse, through a gutter and adjoining PVC pipe to be captured by the cistern. Inside the greenhouse, Shaw’s students were tending a lush collection of plants left over from the Ag program’s annual plant sale, watering them via a hose hooked to a spigot where water is pumped in from the 2,100-gallon cistern.

“It’s really great to see the students in the greenhouse, putting this resource to use,” Sierra said.

The videos will not only be used to share Sound Rivers’ work with members, but to educate school officials and teachers who are thinking about stormwater projects for their own campuses.

“Having these videos will allow us to fully illustrate how these stormwater control measures work and how they can be an asset to any campus, and also as a resource for teachers to show students what these projects do and how they work for water quality,” Sierra said.

Like the work Sound Rivers’ program staff is doing on campuses across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds? Donate today to support their work!