News

Sound Rivers Program Director Clay Barber and Stormwater Education Coordinator Sierra Stickney (and Resilience Corps NC AmeriCorps member) were in the field last week, providing some TLC to a rainwater harvesting cistern installed at New Bern High School in 2019.

“This was one of the first projects of the Campus Stormwater Program and it has since experienced some wear and tear,” Sierra said. “The 90-degree inlet pipe broke, likely due to ground settling that put pressure on the connection point, and although the cistern’s pump — designed to discharge excess water — is currently functional, it was clogged. It is unclear what might have caused the clog, but my theory is that it might have been due to sediment buildup from the roof.”

Sierra and Clay put the cistern to rights by unclogging the pump, adding a passive drawdown device, which will slowly release water during heavy rainfall, but can also be hooked up to a garden hose so the water can be used for watering plants or cleaning equipment.

“We worked on these issues and got them repaired,” Sierra said. “We also discussed the history of the cistern with the assistant principal, Matthew Hische, and our plans to create a stronger relationship with the school’s teachers and maintenance team for continued maintenance of the cistern.” 

Resilience Corps NC AmeriCorps is a service program of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, funded by a grant through the North Carolina Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism.

Like the work your Program team is doing on school campuses across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds? We do, too! Donate today to build more rain gardens, install more cisterns and build more constructed wetlands!