Tomas O’Grady of Enrich LA at a school garden

LA Unified students are learning about water conservation methods needed locally because of the drought, and the effort got a big boost last week from a $50,000 federal grant.

An award from the Environmental Protection Agency is intended to support a pilot program to teach students how to conserve water. It’s part of the “One Water LA” Educational Initiative created in April 2014 through a resolution from school board president Steve Zimmer. It’s a collaborative effort that includes the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Metropolitan Water District and Los Angeles Sanitation department.

“Los Angeles is currently experiencing extreme drought conditions and it is the responsibility of educators to ensure the next generation is equipped with the necessary tools to develop solutions, not only for climate change but for other problems, or else the Earth as we know it today will cease to exist in the future,” Zimmer said.

Already, there are programs at many schools across the district. Vivian Ekchian, the area superintendent for the Northwest, said she is making it a priority to show how the school gardens can be grown in a drought-stricken climate. Students of Enadia Way Elementary School in West Hills, for example, are learning what flowers, vegetables and fruit trees they can grow in a 10,000-square-foot garden without using too much water.

Local businessman Tomas O’Grady has a nonprofit group called Enrich LA that has helped student gardens throughout LAUSD, including the transformation of a patch of unused mud in the center of Valley View Elementary School in Hollywood into a raised garden using a drip system. Teachers plant native flowers mentioned in poetry they are studying or draw from other Common Core teaching material.

Green Wish is another nonprofit that is providing (for free) Common Core curriculum exercises that involve the environment and school gardens for students K through 9th grades.

Actor and director Raphael Sbarge helped create Green Wish with environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. and created a half-hour documentary “A Concrete River: Reviving the Waters of Los Angeles,” which explains how the Los Angeles River is being revived and what part the river plays in water conservation. The movie is shown to students who visit the River Rover on school trips, part of the Friends of the Los Angeles River nonprofit.

“Scientific evidence demonstrates that the climate is changing at an increasingly rapid rate, with elevated temperatures, melting icebergs, extreme weather patterns, species extinction and other effects,” Zimmer said.

The sanitation agency, which is funding the “One Water LA” initiative, also will train students at its Environmental Learning Center. Other educational organizations involved in the effort, include EcoTelesis/ UCLA Engineering Extension, Climate Resolve and LA Waterkeeper. All of the programs will be aligned with content standards, including California Next Generation Science Standards, a common level of scientific knowledge that all students need to graduate high school.

“Educators need to create the next generation of Science Technology Engineering Math experts in the workforce and this curriculum will increase the STEM education pipeline from middle to high school,” Superintendent Ramon Cortines said about students studying STEM. “It is important to educate students to be college-prepared as STEM majors and career-ready for STEM jobs.

The GLOBE Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a federal effort aimed at expanding the understanding of global environment to a worldwide audience. As part of its 19th annual conference, now underway at the Universal Sheraton, GLOBE is joining with the district to teach instructors about southern California’s persistent drought and how to mitigate its impact. The curriculum includes explaining how to work with moisture in the ground and how to engage students in learning about the drought.

As an example, children and teachers from Hamlin Charter Academy in West Hills and Gault Street Elementary in Van Nuys will be showing other schools their WaterBuddy Curricula, a training and awareness program geared for teachers, parents and children to inspire a love of English and a fondness for new water words. It helps with English learning and science and math, leading to hands-on drought-tolerant school gardens and butterfly habitats.

There is also instruction for how to save trees on the school grounds and revamp school gardens to use less water.

According to GLOBE, “In LA and the San Fernando valley, low to moderate income children and struggling students are able to join other children in many countries through GLOBE’s Star measurements and either catch up, or join others in wondering about the future and choose to involve themselves in new outcomes at school, at home or along the LA watershed.”

Students actually help provide data for worldwide study.

Henry Ortiz, the LAUSD district GLOBE partner, is hosting the event along with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UCLA, USC, California Science Center and Raytheon.

As the largest district in the state, LA Unified consumes annually about 2.5 billion gallons of water — equivalent to the capacity of the Hollywood Reservoir.

“I know that sounds like a lot but you have to remember we’re serving more than 660,000 students everyday,” Christos Chrysiliou, Director of the Architecture and Engineering Services for the district’s Facilities Division, told LA School Report.

“We’ve done a lot of work to bring it down, and we’re doing a lot more,” he said.

Many of the gains the district has made in conserving water over the years are a result of the 2003 school board resolution adopting more environmentally rigorous guidelines for new school construction projects, called Collaborative High Performance Schools or CHPS. All of these developments include a water conservation component.

“As we adopted that, it meant pretty much over 150 of our our new construction projects had to meet those standards, and they are very tough,” Chrysiliou said.

To date, about 80 of the new construction sites have been certified as CHPS campuses and another 40 are waiting to be approved.

While the public often considers a LEED certification to be the ultimate mark of a sustainable building, Chrysiliou says the High Performance schools are about 30 percent more energy efficient than the district’s older campuses. All use reclaimed water to irrigate the landscaping made up of native, drought-tolerant plants. And underground detention systems are built-in to reduce storm water run off.

In addition to those campuses, there are also five LEED certified schools: Sotomayor Learning Academies, Michelle Obama Elementary School, Middle College High School, and the two LEED Silver buildings at Dorsey High School.

Under a state-grant called Drought Response Outreach Program for Schools (DROPS), a handful of schools have launched projects to capture water and process it so it can be put back into the underground water system. The district plans to expand the program to five new schools: Victory Boulevard Elementary, Normandy Avenue Elementary, Western Middle School, Northridge Middle School, and Belvedere Middle School.

Further, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is working with the district in replacing about 1,000 old toilet fixtures with low-flow units and 225 new urinals.

“That’s a lot of savings,” Chrysiliou said.

And what about those expansive green grass lawns, you may wonder?

Chrysiliou’s department is hoping to take advantage of a citywide program that offers to pay residents dig out the grass and plant drought tolerant plants instead. The going rate for a square foot of grass is $3.75.  A price Chrysiliou says, “is a good deal for us.”

Basically, he says, “If it’s not a playing field then we’re thinking about replacing it.”

The district is also piloting new irrigation technologies to reduce over-watering in places that will remain grass-covered. So far, 18 sites have been outfitted with remote shut off irrigation systems.

Winners will receive prizes and the opportunity to have their artwork displayed in the California State Capitol building.

“The arts offer a unique way to illuminate reality,” Craig Watson, Director of the California Arts Council, said in a press release. “Utilizing the arts and creativity through this classroom poster contest will deepen student engagement and understanding about water conservation in California. We hope the Conservation Creativity Challenge contest will help students engage with these important conservation values in new and fun ways.”

Details about the contest are available at www.arts.ca.gov/conservation. The deadline for entries is March 31, 2015.

“In light of the current, severe drought it is more important than ever to encourage all Californians to develop lifelong resource stewardship habits,” said Michelle Robinson, Water Education Specialist at the California Department of Water Resources, in a press release. “The Conservation Creativity Challenge is a great way for students everywhere to get involved and share their ideas about saving water every day.”