Cleaner StreamsGrady Erickson

City of Lincoln - Lancaster Health Department&

Mandi ConwayWatershed Management Division

Who We Are

Watershed Management Division Manage stormwater Reduce flood hazards Improve water quality Outreach & Education

Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department Keep America Beautiful Keep Lincoln-Lancaster

County Beautiful

Work closely with other entities

What We Are Doing

Promoting and educating the importance of clean waterways Help reduce Non-Point

Source Pollution Keep streams and lakes

clean and beautiful

EPA has identified non-point source pollution to be the largest threat to the lakes, rivers, and streams of the United States 70% of all pollution

How Does This Effect Lincoln?

Storm drains don’t treat water for pollutants

Streams aren’t capable of protecting themselves against chemical and debris influx

Water quality directly affects the health of fish, birds, mammals and plants

5 streams in Lincoln don’t meet EPA standards

Facts on Non-Point Source Pollution

Pet Waste

Illegally dumped down storm drains Storm drains are NOT treated first so waste

ends up directly in places such as Holmes Lake

Spreads bacteria, illnesses and parasites Ex: E. Coli, cholera and tapeworm

EPA classifies pet waste as a dangerous pollutant in the same category as toxic chemicals and oil.

One dog can produce 274 lbs of waste annually 60 million dogs in U.S. = 16.4 billion lbs each

year 36,358 dogs in Lincoln = 9.96 million lbs each

year

Fertilizer

Too much fertilizer isn’t a good thing

Plants can only use so many nutrients

One pound of excess phosphorus in a lake can create 300-500 pounds of algae

Algae blooms create hypoxic water

Low oxygen = Fish kills

N-P-K on bag, P should be 3 or less

Oil

Do-it-Yourself oil changes dump or spill more oil in a month than major tanker disasters

In the U.S. 200 Million Gallons of used motor oil is improperly disposed of, Annually

The BP Oil Spill and Exxon Valdez Disaster have released 211 Million Gallons. Those occurred 21 Years Apart

One quart of motor oil can contaminate 250,000 Gallons of drinking water

When poured into water, one quart of motor oil can form an oil slick covering 9,680 square yards (almost 2 football fields)

Debris

Eroding soils create sediment which can change the flow of streams and add unwanted nutrients and microorganisms

Sediment pollution causes $16 Billion in environmental damage annually.

Grass clippings, leaves and organic debris add excess nutrients to water

Trash can be appealing to many animals, they can become entangled or ingest them and suffer severe consequences

Our City

5 Streams in the Lincoln area do not meet EPA standards.

All streams and lakes impaired in some way

YOU CAN HELP!

What Will Cleaner Streams Volunteers Do?

Spend 2 – 3 hours picking up litter in and around a stream

Sample water for pH, oxygen, turbidity, and temperature

Learn about our lakes and streams!

Things You Will Do If You Join SWAP

Mark storm drains with “No Dumping: Drains to Creek” emblem

Survey conditions of storm drains

Help clean areas around storm drains and some waterways (i.e. neighborhoods)

Distribute door hangers to Homes in neighborhoods to educate families

Only With a Strong

Community Effort Can We Help

Keep Our Waterways Clean

and Healthy

We Need You!

Contact the Adopt-A-Stream Coordinator Mandi Conway

aconway@lincoln.ne.gov (402) 441-7075

Contact the SWAP Coordinator Grady Erickson

gerickson@lincoln.ne.gov or Call (402) 441-8645