Cleaner Streams Initiative: Improving Water Quality in Lincoln and Lancaster County

1. Cleaner Streams Grady Erickson City of Lincoln - Lancaster Health Department & Mandi Conway Watershed Management Division

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Facts on Non-Point Source Pollution

6. 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 274lbs 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

7. 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 300-500pounds of algae • Algae blooms create hypoxic water • Low oxygen = Fish kills • N-P-K on bag, P should be 3 or less

8. Oil • Do-it-Yourself oil changes dump or spill more oil in a month than major tanker disasters • In the U.S. 200 Million Gallonsof used motoroil 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 9,680square yards (almost 2 football fields)

9. Debris • Eroding soils create sediment which can change the flow of streams and add unwanted nutrients and microorganisms • Sediment pollution causes $16Billion 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

11. Our City • 5 Streams in the Lincoln area do not meet EPA standards. • All streams and lakes impaired in some way • YOU CAN HELP!

12. 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!

13. 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

14. Only With a Strong Community Effort Can We Help Keep Our Waterways Clean and Healthy

15. 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