What
is stormwater?
Stormwater includes all of
the water from storm events as well as the water left from melting
snow. Where this water occurs in vegetated areas, it
percolates into the ground, nourishing plants and passing through plant
material, soil, and substrate until it eventually reaches the ground
water layer below. Most of this water is utilized by
vegetation before it reaches ground water, but the remainder is
filtered through these layers of organic material so that
most contaminants are removed.
What is Stormwater? (flash)
Stormwater
becomes an issue when it becomes runoff. Runoff is water that
collects on an impervious surface like roofs, roads, and parking areas.
These waters collect pollutants like oil, grease and heavy
metals from vehicles, chemicals and animal waste from lawns,
and physical debris like soils and trash.
Why
should I care?
Most people think, if they
think about stormwater at all, that these waters are collected in the
same system that treats our sewage and treated before release into the
environment. This is a common misconception.
Stormwater
in municipal areas collects from these impervious surfaces and is
caught and conveyed in the City's vast stormwater system, which is
separate from our sanitary sewer system. This system conveys
stormwater through catch basins, ditches and stormwater lines into
drywells and in some cases, directly to wetlands and the lake itself.
Contaminants that
stormwater may pick up that could affect the lake directly include
things like bacteria and parasites from pet waste, which can affect
recreational activities, and runoff from lawns or car washing, which
may wash high concentrations of nutrients into stormwater,
leading to unsightly, smelly and potentially toxic algae blooms,
particularly in warm weather.
Trash, silt and soil, heavy metals, and chemicals can impair habitat
for important wildlife species that depend on the lake and wetlands for
survival.
Stormwater is the leading
contributor to water quality pollution of urban waterways in Washington.
- Washington State Department of Ecology
The
city depends on its tourism value, which is directly related to the
purity and attractiveness of Moses Lake. It is all of our
responsibilities to learn, implement and practice good management so
that it remains our most valuable resource.
Good management practices cost little in the way of time or money, but
return value to us a hundredfold. It all depends on all of US.
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It's
OUR LAKE -
Keep it beautiful!
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