Los Angeles River School teaches water conservation through gardening

GLASSELL PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Amid California's record drought, students at Los Angeles River School in Glassell Park are learning about water conservation through agricultural education.

"The students learn about drip irrigation, they learn why it's important, why it saves water and how it's more efficient," said Reies Flores, a part-time farmer and plant and soil science teacher at the school.

High school senior Moises Ortiz is among those who helped install a drip irrigation system in the school's garden area. Ortiz says the point is "to be as efficient as we can."

The pilot school -- on the campus of Sonia Sotomayor Learning Academies -- is one of only three schools in the entire Los Angeles Unified School District that uses reclaimed water for its landscaping.

By 2017, LAUSD plans to have nearly a dozen additional schools using a recycled water source. By the following year, it plans to save approximately 64 million gallons of water.

In addition, LAUSD is in the process of a major plumbing retrofit. When completed, the district will have replaced 6,500 toilets and 2,000 urinals, providing an annual reduction of 100 million gallons of water.

The school is in the process of building a new greenhouse to help grow more drought tolerant and native plants.

Later this year, rain barrels will be installed to help collect any precipitation that falls during winter, Flores said.

LAUSD has 1,270 schools and centers. The current annual water cost is $20 million.

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