Whitney Wallace and Carol Franze

Rainfall in southeast Louisiana averages over 63 inches per year, making it one of the wettest regions in an already water-rich state. As development expands and parish watersheds are increasingly altered, localized flooding during heavy or prolonged rain events has become more common. In response, St. Tammany Parish has implemented a range of flood control practices that create unique opportunities to both reduce stormwater impacts and engage youth in real-world watershed education. Through the Adopt-A-Pond program, the LSU AgCenter partners with local schools to support these hands-on learning experiences while promoting stewardship of neighborhood waterways.

State and local governments are required to maintain good water quality in state waterways as mandated by the Clean Water Act and enforced by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). Water pollution may be from known sources (point source) more easily assessed and regulated or from unknown sources (non-point) requiring innovative removal and monitoring techniques. One technique is to divert stormwater through retention (wet) or detention (dry) ponds planted with trees and other vegetation to remove pollutants before discharging to local waterways. Plants remove excess nutrients and bind other pollutants to soils within the stormwater ponds.

In 2013, the St. Tammany Parish government engaged student volunteers from area schools to help plant trees throughout the parish due to the huge loss of trees from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and subsequent tropical storm events. Planting trees in the stormwater ponds eliminates the need to mow the ponds, saving parish funds and allowing wetland habitats to develop. Trees improve the local carbon footprint, adding localized cooling while sequestering potential pollution. A single, 10-inch bald cypress can intercept 1,182 gallons of rainwater a year and provide food and wildlife habitat for numerous birds and mammals.

Over the past decade, these landscapes have matured into wetland ecosystems, providing co-benefits found in natural wetland habitats. Watershed-based, hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities were added to provide students with a greater understanding of functioning watershed features constructed to mimic natural hydrology. As future taxpayers, students gain a sense of responsibility and continuing stewardship for the stormwater ponds they restored to regional wetland habitats.

In 2017, the program was formalized as a partnership among the St. Tammany Parish government, St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement District, Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter and is known as the St. Tammany Parish Adopt-A-Pond Program. It engages students from seventh to 12th grades in a variety of science and agriculture classes and environmental clubs.

Lessons include water quality tests (seven parameters, including nutrients) on inflow and outflow samples to track changes as the wetland habitats develop and mature. Program instructors show students how to recognize animal tracks and scat and to assess habitat development. Aquatic insects and other invertebrates are sampled and identified as indicators of water body health.

The St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement District highlights mosquito larvae found in samples and discusses potential human health impacts, like West Nile Virus. The St. Tammany Parish government uses the data collected by the students to report reductions in pollution to the LDEQ and U.S. EPA. A marine debris lesson was implemented to discuss how trash and other aquatic pollution occurs. Equally important, partnership instructors show students potential education and career paths, and students gain a sense of stewardship in their community. Lessons developed for the program enhance Louisiana science standards and support classroom curricula.

The Adopt-A-Pond Program provides enormous educational, social and economic benefits to students and parish residents for a small investment. Approximately $50,000 has been pulled together from multiple sources for the program over the past seven years. The St. Tammany Parish government provides stormwater pond sites and sapling trees for planting through grant funding and district general funds.

The LSU AgCenter Youth Wetlands Program provided the initial water quality test kit supplies. Louisiana Sea Grant provided funding for the logo development and printing and provided grant funding for two teacher professional development workshops in 2023 and 2025. St. Tammany Parish Public Schools provides funding for bus travel, substitute teachers and water quality kits and equipment for recently added ag science classes. Private funding was provided by Sunbelt Rentals and Duplantis Design Group for student bus transportation to the planting sites. The largest private donation of $19,000 came from an anonymous resident to provide an Adopt-A-Pond Program logo-wrapped trailer to transport equipment, supplies and trees to the pond and park events.

More than 2,500 students participated in the Adopt-A-Pond Program from 2017 to 2024, planting 7,210 trees, which resulted in more than 30 million gallons per day of stormwater runoff improved. St. Tammany Parish Government regulatory manager E. deEtte Smythe estimates the removal of 1,540 pounds of biological oxygen demand per day and 1,333 pounds of ammonia per day in the receiving streams. These pollutants produce algae blooms and dissolved oxygen collapse in receiving streams, causing ecosystem impacts. Four teacher professional development workshops were conducted with activities targeting wetland habitats and water quality lessons; the last workshop took 12 teachers on an airboat ride to view a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuge marsh restoration site guided by researchers from LSU. The tour from dock to restoration site helped make the important connections between natural watersheds and the stormwater ponds.

In 2023, students from Boyet Junior High in Slidell and Madisonville Jr. High made presentations to the St. Tammany Parish Council and St. Tammany Parish School Board, enthusiastically demonstrating the knowledge they gained through hands-on learning activities and the importance of stormwater ponds in St. Tammany Parish communities.

From a post-test evaluation of the Adopt-A-Pond Program, a student commented the following on his experience: “I could teach my little brother, cousins or even my dad.” Many students say they would like to return to see how their trees are growing. This leads us to believe they feel ownership or stewardship in their community.

Whitney Wallace is an LSU AgCenter forestry and wildlife associate extension agent based in Tangipahoa Parish, and Carol Franze is a marine extension program agent for the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant.

This article appears in the winter 2026 edition of Louisiana Agriculture.

The St. Tammany Parish Adopt-A-Pond Program engages students from seventh to 12th grades in a variety of science and agriculture classes and environmental clubs. Photo by Whitney Wallace

Adopt-A-Pond partnership instructors show students potential education and career paths, and students gain a sense of stewardship in their community. Photo by Whitney Wallace

The Adopt-A-Pond Program provides enormous educational, social and economic benefits to students and parish residents for a small investment. Photo by Whitney Wallace