I’m Mandy Smith-Thompson, Concord’s Environmental Educator. It’s my job to teach the citizens of Concord how they can better protect the planet we all call home. Here are some things I want all our citizens to understand. Allow me to translate some of our favorite environmental slogans in the next 5 installments of the
Educator’s blog…
Only rain down the drain
Many streets in Concord are considered “curb and gutter.” This means they’re outfitted by a storm drainage and gutter system. The gutters direct rainfall off our roads and into the storm drains during rain events, and protect drivers from standing water. They do a great job when they’re free of blockages. It is important that we keep the streets clear of debris that could become washed into the storm drains and cause a blockage. Along with litter, leaves and grass clippings are common causes of blockages.
Most people think storm drains lead to a treatment facility that cleans the water before it is released into the environment. Wrong, wrong, WRONG!! Storm drains are connected directly to lakes, creeks, streams & rivers.
Did you know that Concord’s drinking water comes from those same lakes?!You can see where this is going. Anything the rain water encounters on its way to the storm drain (or drainage ditch) will be carried into a local body of water. Automobile fluids, chemicals, litter, etc. Oxygen levels in water are actually depleted by influx of nitrogen and phosphorus (fish need oxygen!). Nitrogen and phosphorus are found in human and animal waste, fertilizers, loose leaves, and grass clippings.
Soaps & detergents can coat fish gills, destroying their function. How do soap and detergent get into the storm drain? Washing cars (especially over a paved driveway or in the street), illicit dishwasher and washing machine connections, and buckets of used mop water, to name a few.
Want to guess the #1 polluter of water in the country? Dirt! a.k.a. sediment, suspended solids and silt. The main source of this contaminant is construction sites. However, dirt is free to move any time plants and trees are removed from an area. Roots help hold dirt in place, but after grading, clearing and logging activity, dirt is subject to erosion (movement by wind or water). Then, local aquatic ecosystems are subject to dirt which increases the temperature of the water, clouds things up so the animals can’t see to feed & have trouble breathing and blocks sunlight to underwater plants. Dirt kills freshwater mussels by clogging the siphons they use for feeding and breathing and settles to the bottom, covering fish eggs and smothering the embryos inside. In swift water, dirt brushes over fish eggs like sand paper, rupturing the soft membranes that protect them.
