Game On for Clean Water

Protecting estuaries starts with informed communities. During this Teachers on the Estuary (TOTE) workshop, North Carolina educators experienced how games can break down complex concepts like the connection between watershed management and clean water. This article was written by Jillian Daly, communications specialist at the North Carolina Reserve.

The second afternoon of our Teachers on the Estuary workshop turned into a lively lesson with games and candy “money.” Training Coordinator Whitney Jenkins introduced one of her favorite activities for demonstrating watershed management and the impacts of land development on water quality.

While Whitney normally uses this activity with real estate agents, a key audience since they are often the first professionals newcomers meet when moving to coastal North Carolina, the game is also useful for teachers and students. Through this activity, participants from many disciplines understand how to protect local water quality.

To set the stage, Whitney shared a presentation on sustainable development. Photos of seawalls, concrete lots, and nonnative landscaping illustrated how dramatically humans have altered natural hydrology. Conventional development increases impervious surfaces—roads, roofs, parking lots—that prevent rainwater from soaking into the ground. Instead, stormwater runs off these hardened areas, carrying pollutants like oil, trash, and chemicals into nearby waterways. Even storm drains often lead directly to creeks and estuaries, such as Taylor’s Creek near the Rachel Carson Reserve, without any treatment.

Whitney explained how many communities are built around cars rather than people. Features like cul-de-sacs add large paved areas that serve only a few homes, creating what she calls a “stormwater superhighway”—a direct path for polluted runoff from rooftops to storm drains with no vegetation to absorb or filter the water. Research shows that when a watershed reaches just 10% impervious cover, water quality begins to decline.

Why does this matter? Clean water supports recreation, drinking water supplies, and healthy aquatic ecosystems. When water becomes impaired, it can no longer meet these needs. For example, high levels of bacteria from stormwater runoff can contaminate oysters, leading to harvest closures and posing risks to human health. Similar bacterial pollution can trigger swimming advisories and disrupt coastal economies that rely on tourism and fisheries.

Despite these challenges, sustainable development practices—such as permeable pavement, living shorelines, and protected green spaces—can reduce pollution while still supporting growth.

After covering the basics, Whitney introduced the Watershed Game to the educators. Participants formed teams representing residents, businesses, and local government and were tasked with reducing stormwater pollution before new regulations were imposed. Working together—and bargaining with candy as currency—they invested in practices like vegetated buffers, conservation easements, permeable surfaces, and staff education on stormwater maintenance. By pooling their resources, the teams succeeded in reducing pollution to the target level.

The activity consistently resonates with real estate agents as well. One participant noted, “This was one of the best professional development presentations I have attended in my 35-year career in education. The way you covered the real estate topics through science was outstanding.”

For information on North Carolina real estate continuing education courses, contact Whitney at whitney.jenkins@deq.nc.gov.