San Francisco Watershed Stewardship Curriculum

From 2009 to 2010, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) funded the design and installation of five rainwater harvesting systems in elementary schools in the San Francisco Unified School District. Each project installed a tank to capture rainwater, removed paved surfaces from the schoolyard to make room for a garden and let rainwater soak into the ground, and used native and edible plants to be irrigated by the on-site rainwater harvesting system. The projects achieve multiple goals: they raise watershed awareness, green the city’s public schools, and keep stormwater out of San Francisco’s combined sewer system. To help schools use rainwater harvesting systems as educational tools, the SFPUC partnered with the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance and funded a Watershed Stewardship Curriculum. The lessons pertain to watershed awareness, green stormwater management, pollution awareness and prevention, and water conservation. All schools in San Francisco that replace schoolyard asphalt with permeable garden space and harvest rainwater for irrigation will find these lessons useful in connecting students to their watersheds. Lessons in this binder can be adapted for kindergarten through 6th grade, and beyond. Download the curriculum and put it to work in your school!