Resources for Teachers
&
RCD Services

The Napa County Resource Conservation District (RCD) first began assisting landowners conserve and improve their natural resources in 1945. Education was, and continues to be, the primary method by which the RCD is able to help property owners improve their land for themselves and for fish and wildlife. By demonstrating practical conservation strategies, the Napa RCD has helped Napa County develop into a world renowned agricultural producing County.
Today, the Napa RCD continues its long tradition of natural resources education and conservation in a variety of ways. The following services are some of the things provided to the community by the RCD and include:

• Classroom Presentations

Water Quality in Napa County: Past , Present, and Future

This lesson focuses on groundwater and surface water contamination and how it can affect people and endangered species in Napa County. Students will be shown how to properly dispose of household hazardous wastes and other commonly used products. The class will generate a list of things that they can do that will improve water quality in Napa County.

Napa’s Wetlands, a Vital Resource

This lesson demonstrates how important wetlands are to the ecology of the Napa River watershed. Students will be shown how wetlands provide habitat for local fish and wildlife and act as filters to improve water quality. We will examine how the historical fragmentation of wetlands throughout the Bay Area has affected water quality and habitat.

Water Pollution in Napa County

This lesson begins by looking back at the Native American residents of the Napa Valley and how they lived. Also discussed are the impacts that early European settlement had on water pollution and follows the impacts that modern man has made up to the present day. Specifically, we will discuss how polluted runoff generated from ordinary activities has had a negative impact on water quality in Napa County, and how ordinary people have the greatest potential to improve the quality of water in Napa and elsewhere.

• Service Learning Opportunities
  
  
  • Water Quality Training and Monitoring
  • Stenciling Stormdrains “No Dumping, Flows to the Napa River”
  • Organize Creek and Neighborhood Cleanup Events

• Field Trips
  
  
  • Assist with Organizing and Staffing Restoration Field Trips
  • Lesson Plan and Nature Walk through the Napa Sonoma Marsh
  • Lesson Plan and Nature Walk through the Yountville Eco Preserve

Environmental Education Guide

(Volume 3-2004/05)