Do your part to cleanup stormwater runoff

We have now officially entered spring! Shouts of “Hooray!” and sighs of relief can be heard from warm-weather fans all through the area (I know most of our office is Team Summer).

Still, even if you’re cheering this opening act of a warmer season, a damaging reality almost always goes with it — flooding. It is one of the greatest threats to homeowners in our state and looking to be a formidable foe this year. With a wet fall sparking a deep winter soil freeze and a snowy February, it’s likely that water will be stranded on the surface moving to whatever low ground it can find.

Welcome the genius of stormwater infrastructure.

If you haven’t already been told, pavement and other impermeable surfaces are creators of water troubles whenever the weather is right. Thankfully, we learned this early on and found that water needs a place to go when it can’t drain into the ground below, and created storm drains. Strategically placed along roadways and in low spots, storm drains are the entry point for directing runoff away from our establishments, and they function as the unsung heroes through our wet seasons.

But where does it all go? Well, a little digging will reveal that we traditionally lead stormwater into nearby waterways or land that can handle a little flooding (retention ponds, ditches, etc). Notice the intention here, though: direct the runoff but not necessarily treat it. Hence we face a bit of a dilemma: moving water from urban landscapes without bothering with its cleanliness is a recipe for pollution problems.

Sure enough, stormwater runoff ends up being the No. 1 pollutant of our water bodies in the state — carrying away physical debris like trash, sand, leaves, grass clippings, pet waste, and bare soil alongside road scum like oils, detergents, and salt residue — none of which we should want in our water, whether we drink from it or not.

Are you wondering: “What about Carlton County?”

The quick and simple takeaway is that about 60 percent of urban runoff is directed into a local water body. Half of that goes directly into the St. Louis River. The rest is expelled predominantly into ditches and natural landscapes, often located near a water source.

In short, contaminants don’t have to travel far as subsurface water into places we’d rather it not reach.

Whether you feel fired up or not now, I think it’s useful to know that each of us can have an influential role when talking about stormwater. Simple actions such as cleaning up trash, collecting leaf debris, picking up pet waste and sweeping up salt and sand alongside curbs can add up to big differences down the road in terms of pollution, and keep those drains unobstructed.

I’ll reiterate once more: Runoff enters storm drains entirely untreated, meaning anything we put onto — or don’t remove from — our roads or yards ends up in our water one way or another. Let’s all do our part.

Writer Chris Gass is a Minnesota GreenCorps member with the Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District whose bi-monthly columns will focus on environmental topics and stewardship, particularly in cities and towns.