Despite today's heat, my boots, flashlight, rain gear are ready at the door. I am waiting for a day or night phone call from Coastal Watershed Council that rain is coming and First Flush is on.
Our 12 teams are ready; we've been to an orientation and then did a 'dry run' early this past Saturday morning with buckets, PH strips, water collection bottles, ice chests, conductivity meters and boots (well, except me - I forgot.)
With mother nature's cooperation, sometime in October summer will truly end in Santa Cruz and we'll get our first significant rain. When that happens, day or night, our band of volunteers, supplemented by a Cabrillo group plus numerous veterans, will report to 3 Hubs and disburse into predefined locations where urban storm water reaches the watershed, that is our creeks, rivers, streams. Here we'll measure the first water run offs complete with materials that have been collecting all summer on our dry roads, sidewalks, and parking lots. [Last week's unanticipated downpour was considered a 'late summer rain', though the exact distinction is a little vague to me.]
Why measure things like urea, bacteria, heavy metals? Bottom line: city runoff is dirty, filled with toxins, elevated bacteria levels, stuff from leaky sewers, metals from our car's break pads. We don't exactly know how much or what substances.
While drinking water is treated, regulated and closely monitored (and very good in Santa Cruz), and similarly sewage discharge is treated and regulated, there is scant monitoring or regulation of what comes off city streets and sidewalks and flows into the watershed. That's why you see "No dumping, flows to the Bay" on storm drains. Our roads and sidewalks are impermeable to water. So every fall when the first flush comes, everything collecting from summer - things like bacteria from dog poop, copper, magnesium, lead from cars, detergents, pesticides from your garden - flows in one big blast into the storm drains, into the pipes and directly into the watershed.
During First Flush, we'll be waiting at the other end of these storm drain pipes to catch what comes out. With impermeable streets it can't go too many other places. Yuck!
The non-profit Coastal Watershed Council has been monitoring watersheds since 1996. They work closely with the EPA, state and central coast cities and counties through grants and contracts to provide local technical advice, monitoring, outreach and stewardship programs and maintain a website data portal. Here's their Google map. (Click on the map, find your watershed.)
Watershed management
is a relatively new field, and complex, since water of course water is all
connected. With only a total staff of 4, they now
offer First Flush, Urban Watch, Snapshot programs. Debie Chirco-Macdonald and Nancy Scarborough run the First Flush program.
What can we do? Think about your 'water footprint.'
Never pour oils, chemicals, liquids or even dog poop down a storm drain.
Pick up pet waste
- Before the first rain (like, soon) sweep your driveway and gutters and compost an organic materials. (Decaying vegetation affects oxygen levels.)
- Think about home runoff: Can you "Slow it? Sink it? Spread it?" Capture rainwater from the roof?
- Use safer laundry detergents
- Volunteer or contribute to help our watersheds
As to First Flush, we have a betting pool to pick the date and time of first flush rain. At this moment I'm still dry, drinking cool tap water.
Remember our water is safe, but it is all connected. Be a good water steward in your home.
(On the Google Map, find your watershed first)
No comments:
Post a Comment