2015 Sacramento, California, USA
Allison Goi, like many Californians, has been concerned with the multi-year drought in this region. She wanted to focus her Caring for Our Watersheds project on water conservation and more efficient water use at her school, The MET Sacramento.
To that end, she proposed the installation of several rain barrels on campus, specifically in the garden area at school. Water collected in the barrels would be used to irrigate the various garden plantings, thus lowering the school’s city water use for this purpose.
With project funds from Caring for Our Watersheds, Allison purchased (4) 50 gallon rain barrels and worked with facilities staff to install them by two downspouts in the garden area. Facilities staff modified the downspouts in order to best fill the barrels and agreed to maintain the system in the future. The barrels will collect and store a total of 200 gallons of water to be used in the garden are as needed. To make it easy to use the watering system, the barrels have been placed on shelves, 18 inches off the ground, and Allison attached 50 foot hoses to the barrels at both sites. Lastly, Allison educated the Garden Club about the project, as they will be group utilizing the system the most.