Students will stencil storm drains in effort to promote clean water

AUBURN — The Androscoggin Valley Stormwater Working Group (Lewiston, Auburn, Lisbon and Sabattus) and Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water Conservation District are working together with local volunteers for cleaner, safer water.
Volunteers will gather at Festival Plaza on Main Street at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 8, and will also meet in Lisbon and Sabattus for a brief clean water and municipal stormwater drainage system discussion. The volunteers will then split up to conduct street stenciling in multiple neighborhoods in the municipalities.
The stencils will mark the street near municipal drainage inlets (catch basins). Stormwater is precipitation that doesn’t soak into the ground; rain flowing from rooftops to lawns, across driveways and into sidewalks and roads is collected by these storm drains and discharged, untreated, into local bodies of water. Along the way, stormwater has collected pesticides and fertilizers, bacteria from pet waste, oil and petroleum, sediment, trash and cigarette butts. This stenciling event is in effort to help educate the public of this process and to remind them not to dump down the drain. Maine Department of Environmental Protection estimates that 40 to 70 percent of rain and snow that hits the ground leaves the average residential lot as stormwater runoff.
Additionally, the illegal dumping of waste or trash into the drainage system can create more pollution and clog drainage systems, creating backups, nuisance flooding, and requires expensive cleaning operations. Public engagement in pollution prevention, such as environmentally sensitive lawn care, can greatly assist municipalities in these costly clean-ups which fall on taxpayers.
Residents can make a difference by following these five steps on their properties:
Build healthy soil: By using organic material and mulches, soil will increase its water retention and will minimize stormwater runoff.
Mow better: Taller grass helps maintain healthy soil, which absorbs more water, resulting in less polluted runoff from lawns. Leave lawn clippings for natural fertilizer.
Practice smart watering: Plan your plant/lawn watering around rain events and use automated systems to reduce the amount of property runoff. Give plants just what they need but not too much.
Think twice before using fertilizers and pesticides: Use phosphorus-free or slow-release fertilizers. Phosphorus and pesticides and cumulatively contaminate water bodies when they drain into them.
Practice yardscaping: Use native plants and group plants together that need similar amounts of water.
To find out ways you can help prevent pollution, check out www.yardscaping.org