Elementary school students and other community members regularly measure precipitation and the water table at spots located within the various microclimates of their area. In doing so, they observe how variation in rainfall influences water table levels. They also carry out studies of spring and stream flows and measure the water level in wells. Anderson Valley serves as the hub for this information, which is transmitted electronically from other North Coast Rural Challenge Network schools on a weekly basis. Sixth-graders enter all the figures into a data base and analyze them.
Students publicize their findings through local and county-wide newspapers and radio shows.
They have also put together a Water Resource Investigations Web site. This work has useful to the area's apple and grape producers who can make use of the precise information about rainfall and water tables. The students are contributing to the local economy while honing their academic skills through compiling, analyzing, and communicating quantifiable data. Americorps Watershed Project Coordinator helps student measure a monitoring well. As plants mature, they are sometimes sold to raise money for future projects and to inform the local community residents about the beauty, utility, and ecological function of wildflowers.