Join Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District and communities throughout Ohio in recognizing this week (October 17-23, 2021) as Stormwater Awareness Week!
Did you know that estimates say almost 70% of the pollution in our rivers, streams, and lakes is carried there by stormwater runoff after a rain or snow event? Geauga County has thousands of miles of open drainage including our ditches, streams, and rivers. This drainage collects water from over 400 square miles of land (256,000 acres) throughout the county. Unfortunately, this water also includes pollutants from across the landscape. The collective accumulation of runoff from our yards, driveways, and streets – from lawn fertilizers to vehicle fluids, animal wastes to failing septics, and construction sediment to roadside trash – all makes its way to our waterways after a storm.
Stormwater Awareness Week encourages and reminds us that clean water starts at home and natural resource protection begins in our backyards! Whether it’s planting a native tree, eliminating lawn fertilizing, taking a soil test, mulching your leaves, picking up neighborhood trash, building a rain garden, pumping your septic tank, or finally starting that compost pile, each one of us can do something new to promote and protect our water resources.
Though seemingly small – yard by yard our collective efforts become mighty. Geauga SWCD urges you to take part in Stormwater Awareness Week and engage in more ways to be the solution to stormwater pollution.
