34 New Trees Take Root at Phoenix International Academy – February 2026
Canopy for Kids brought lasting shade and sustainability to Phoenix International Academy by planting 34 new trees on campus. Teachers, Students, volunteers, and community partners came together to dig, plant, mulch and water — turning the school grounds into a greener, more cooler space. As the trees grow, they will serve generations of learners, transforming the campus into a cooler, more vibrant place to learn and play.
Watershed Management Group Co-Wins ASU President’s Award – December 2025
In December 2025, Arizona State University presented its annual President’s Awards to honor campus teams whose work produced significant real-world impact. One of the Social Embeddedness awardees was the Storm Smart Schools, a collaborative effort that included Watershed Management Group alongside the ASU Sustainability Teachers Academy, EcoRise, and other partners. This initiative installed stormwater-harvesting gardens at five Phoenix-area schools, demonstrating practical green infrastructure solutions that help manage water, reduce heat and flooding, and create outdoor learning environments for teachers and students. The award recognizes how WMG’s expertise in rainwater harvesting and community engagement contributed to sustainability education and climate resilience in underserved communities.
Canopy for Kids kicks off in Phoenix – December 2025
With the leadership of the City of Phoenix City, Watershed Management Group is proud to partner with Arizona State University’s Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Teachers Academy and EcoRise to bring life-saving shade trees and native pollinator gardens to Phoenix school campuses. Through the Canopy for Kids program, we are helping schools create cooler, greener learning environments that support student health, climate resilience, and local ecosystems.
Rain Garden Training with UABCS, La Paz. Mexico – April 2025
With students and community of the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur in La Paz, Mexico we planted the rain in the first training on water harvesting systems with the local university. Participants came from Sonora and Baja California Sur. Great work on harvesting the rain!!
Phoenix College beautifies their parking lot with native pollinators and shade trees
WMG and ASU brought the hands-on Storm Smart Schools program to Phoenix College and transformed a hot, bare part of the Phoenix College campus into a vibrant pollinator and shade garden.
Baboquivari High School – 2024
Located in the Tohono O’odham Nation district of Baboquivari in the community of Topawa West of Baboquivari mountains, home of I’itoi in the Bi-national Sonoyta watershed. The emphasis of this rain garden is to incorporate cultural elements of the native plants that are present in Baboquivari mountain range. These cultural plants provide materials for baskets, painting and medicinal uses such as devils claw, bear grass, and desert willows to mention a few. We conducted the educational components of the rain garden for the whole school with around 130 students and teachers participating. A design charrette was conducted and implementation of the rain garden may take place in 2025. This school is also sponsored by FMI.
Greenway Elementary School – 2024
Located in Bisbee, AZ and sponsored by Freeport Mcmoran (FMI), this rain garden was retrofitted with two 3,000 gallon tanks to irrigate a vegetable garden and establish around 60 plants. Around 50 volunteers from students-parents-staff of Greenway and FMI participated in the installation. 120 students participated in the classroom educational section of watershed health and rain gardens.
Prince Elementary School – 2024
About 40 volunteers, including students, parents, community members, and St. Philips Church members created a rain garden at Prince Elementary School. This project was funded by the Creation Funds from the Episcopal Church that St Philips and WMG applied for. Over 60 plants were planted and 10 rain garden kits distributed.
JB Wright Elementary School – 2024
Over 30 students-parents and staff participating in the installation of the Rain Garden. Around 120 students participated in the educational session of the rain gardens and watershed health. Around 40 plants were planted.
Train the Rain Trainer in Ambos Nogales – 2024
We trained 35 Nogales and Hermosillo teachers on rain water harvesting. Seven schools will be enhancing and implementing rain gardens in Nogales, Sonora in March 2025.
Train the Trainer in Tijuana – 2024
We established a new partnership with EcoFrontera and we conducted a rainwater harvesting train the trainers approach with teachers of Tijuana schools. Thirty teachers participated including local authorities from the Tijuana school districts and county. Trainees, WMG staff, and the EcoFrontera team built a rain garden at one of the schools - it was raining when we finished the rain garden! As a result of the training, teachers and their students built 6 rain gardens in 6 different schools.
