GreenTown Los Altos
GreenTown Los Altos

We’re Overflowing With Ideas

The GreenTown Los Altos Water Team strives to prevent pollution in our watershed and to promote water conservation inside and outside the home. If you love aquatics, advocacy, and action JOIN US on the GreenTown Water Team.
Preventing Water Pollution
Stormwater runoff is the greatest source of water pollution. Which is why the Water Team advocates for diverting storm water runoff into green infrastructure, such as rain gardens and bioswales in order to catch water where it falls instead of having it flow into nearby creeks through storm drains. As the water sinks into the ground, toxins are filtered and clean water revitalizes our aquifers. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of green infrastructure in residential projects and given input to the City of Los Altos on the shoulder paving policy. Link to stormwater page.
The Water Team adopted a section of Permanente Creek at Heritage Oaks Park where we conduct creek cleanups twice a year in May and September. Find out about them here.
Annually, we partner with Grassroots Ecology to participate in the World Water Monitoring Challenge. Volunteers learn to use various tests, including observations of aquatic bugs, to measure creek health.
Promoting Water Conservation
More than half of residential water is used for landscaping so GreenTown Los Altos encourages water wise ways such as:
  • The Water Team’s Lawn-Be-Gone program advocated for replacing lawns with drought-tolerant landscapes.
  • The Native Garden Bike Tour in April, now an annual event,  introduced residents to beautiful unthirsty landscapes.
  • With our weekly presence at the Los Altos Farmers’ Market, the Water Team provided information about rebates through the Santa Clara Valley Water District and composed resource lists for help in lawn conversions. Use lawn conversion bar graph (on google docs) here.  Our page on drought tolerance is full of good ideas.
We sponsored a greywater presentation at the Los Altos Library, which was followed by a laundry-to-landscape hands-on greywater workshop at a local home. See our greywater page here.
Interested? Get in touch via email.
Accomplishments
2011-12
  • Participated in the “Shaped by Water” exhibit curated by Linda Gass at the Los Altos History Museum.
  • Installed a rain barrel at Redwood Grove.
  • Adopted a section of Permanente Creek with the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
2014
  • Hosted the annual Native Garden Bike Tour
  • Installed a water conservation display at the Los Altos Library and “Are You Water Wise?” quizzes in the library’s children’s room.
2015
  • Sponsored presentation by Laura Allen of Greywater Action in the Los Altos Library.
  • Hosted a greywater  laundry-to-landscape workshop at a Los Altos residence.
  • Toured Silicon Valley Water Purification Center.
  • Published articles on water-wise gardening and artificial turf in the Los Altos Town Crier.
  • Weekly presence from May to September at the Los Altos Farmers’ Market.
2016
  • Hosted ”Adventures with Water” activity-based children’s program in the Los Altos Library.
  • Sponsored a presentation by John Russell of Watersprout at the Los Altos Library.
  • Participated in the World Water Monitoring Challenge with Grassroots Ecology.
  • Co-sponsored John Greenlee for his American Meadows presentation.
  • Advocated for more green infrastructure in the City of Los Altos’s shoulder paving policy.
  • Completed three stormwater runoff diversion projects.
  • Completed two public education videos on stormwater runoff.
  • Supported the Girl Scout Gold Award project of a model drought-tolerant landscape at the Woodland Library.
  • Introduced Oakland’s “Adopt a Storm Drain” program to City of Los Altos staff.
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