Students at Paul Huber Middle School recently helped build a rain garden between one of the wings at their school on Washington Avenue.
What is a rain garden?
According to the internet, “A rain garden receives water from impervious (hard) surfaces such as rooftops, sidewalks, driveways and patios. The shallow depression of the garden holds the water so it can slowly infiltrate back into the soil as the plants, mulch and soil naturally remove pollutants from the runoff.”
The Watershed Management Group (WMG) out of Tucson, along with Freeport-McMoRan and the Douglas Unified School District all assisted in the project which featured two days of classroom instruction prior to the installation.
According to the WMG website, they provide a schoolyard water education program where students are taught hands-on activities while using outdoor learning laboratories.
“One of the central goals is to create and enhance outdoor classrooms on school campuses,” the website reads.
Joaquin Murrieta-Saldivar, Cultural Ecologist for WMG, said his organization became involved in the project after being contacted by Ann George, a representative with Freeport-McMoRan after seeing what Huber had to offer in regards to a project like this, following a zoology demonstration she had made at the school.
Both Saldivar and George said they have helped build rain gardens at several other schools throughout Cochise County and are happy DUSD agreed to have one built at one of its schools.