Shaped by gravity and topography, watersheds rarely conform to political boundaries. And yet, counties, cities and villages need to be aware of issues that affect local watersheds, and must do what is necessary to protect and preserve them.
The City of Boulder, Colo., is especially motivated to take care of the region’s water supply. Western municipalities are keenly aware of year-to-year differences in water supply, and the always-present specter of drought.
Pollution is also a concern. Donna Scott, Boulder stormwater quality specialist, says, “Watershed education arose out of the need to address water quality issues associated with behaviors like driving, not picking up pet waste, improper disposal of household waste, and the dumping of motor oil.”
Major components of Boulder’s response to these challenges include a comprehensive outreach program that educates students and the public about water issues, and a large-scale collaboration with other entities within the watershed. The collaboration enables pooling of resources, along with consistent regulation and enforcement throughout the watershed.
Of course this all takes place within the context of a stormwater program resembling that of other large cities. But by placing emphasis on public outreach and collaboration, Boulder is acknowledging that the 300,000 or so inhabitants of Boulder County can have a lot more effect on the watershed than even the best efforts of any stormwater department.
Uniting to conquer
“A core component of Boulder’s response to NPDES guidelines is the Keep It Clean Program (KICP),” explains Curry Rosato, the city’s watershed outreach coordinator.
KICP is a partnership of Boulder County; the cities of Boulder, Longmont and Louisville; and the towns of Erie and Superior. Together, these jurisdictions largely cover the watershed. The partners have entered a five-year intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with a written description of the practices they will employ to comply with their joint stormwater permit.
Cost allocation is based on each partner’s urbanized population, as defined in the IGA. The group’s steering committee includes voting representatives from each partner. “The partners developed a plan that describes how each state-required minimum control measure will be addressed,” says Rosato. “It calls for the use of common themes and elements throughout the watershed, including the development of common stormwater ordinance language for commercial and residential activities.”
The partnership definitely facilitates the sharing of resources. “The City of Boulder already had an established program that included school-based education and community outreach,” says Scott. “The KICP contracts with the city to provide these education programs to other partner communities.”
The partners also collaborate on new outreach efforts and are happy to see their work help others outside the partnership. “One thing we did in 2004 was to use an EPA grant that KICP received to create mascots and a campaign to brand our water protection efforts in our region,” says Scott. “Those mascots — H2O Joe and Flo — are now statewide mascots.”
Getting to the schools
To reach students, KICP developed a thorough curriculum that caters to the needs of teachers. The Water Ranger Program, for grades 4-5, and the Thirsty Lizard Project, for grades 6-8, come with course materials for teachers to copy and reuse, and supporting educational aids that can be checked out from a central library maintained by KICP.
To help encourage adoption by teachers, the material comes with specific information on how the courses help students meet testing requirements of individual schools and Colorado Student Assessment Program testing.
Teachers are also supported by free two-day workshops that provide background information on subjects like watershed mapping and storm drain marking, and hands-on experience in water quality testing. Because KICP programs are easy for teachers, adoption is very high. “A lot of success measurement comes down to bean counting,” says Rosato. “I know, for example, that we’re reaching 5,000 students annually. I also know that teachers consistently report that their knowledge of water and water quality issues increased as a result of training, and that 79 percent of students said that the lessons will change the way they use water.”
Other student outreach programs include a flood safety unit, a watershed resource guide, an interpretive Boulder Creek trail guide with information keyed to 14 accessible stations along the creek, a water resources library with items like aquatic insect study equipment, and science fair project support. One fun, high-impact project is the Children’s Water Festival, which reaches more than 900 students each year. Teachers sign up to attend, and there are associated activities that involve children’s parents.
Reaching the public
KICP also reaches out to the general public comprehensively, with programs that require varying amounts of participation. At the low end of the commitment spectrum are public lectures like the monthly Watershed Forum Series and a speaker series that provides qualified speakers for groups that request one. Topics include water conservation, stormwater quality, and drinking water, and talks can be customized for particular groups.
If neighborhood groups are a little more interested in doing something, KICP works with them on storm drain marking projects, or trains and equips Stream Teams that look after agreed-on sections of streams in much the same manner as Adopt-a-Highway programs.
Really motivated groups can receive guidance; tools, gloves and trash bags; and free trash collection for creek cleanups. “With just a few actions each year, groups can be well on their way to maintaining local waterways,” Rosato says. The program also provides fun giveaways, like T-shirts, that reward participants and spread the KICP word.
“We know that education is a critical component of our watershed awareness program,” says Rosato, “and there really is an interest among existing conservation groups and a big potential for increasing citizen involvement. We’ve had good participation in the Stream Team program, and we’ve had success in getting neighbors together for a series of meetings. When a lot of people take action at their homes, we know we’re getting results.”
One eye-catching and popular part of the outreach program is the freshwater aquarium maintained at the Boulder Public Library’s main branch. Colorado native fish are on display, along with a model of the Boulder Creek Watershed.
As with any outreach program, success measurement is difficult. “We get a lot of our feedback from evaluations and surveys, and we’re doing well by that measure,” says Rosato. “We also had an independent evaluation of KICP, which concluded that we’re making progress and are a leader in our region. But there’s always room to improve. We haven’t yet made a quantifiable connection between our programs and water quality.”
Other pieces
The City of Boulder, with a population of about 100,000, certainly benefits from the regional partnership. But the city has substantial stormwater infrastructure in place as well: 178 miles of active pipe, ranging from 4 to 36 inches. The majority is reinforced concrete pipe, but there is a fair amount of cast iron, corrugated metal, ductile iron and newer materials like HDPE. Boulder has 15 tributaries and 13 ditches, and the storm system discharges from some 900 outfalls. That’s a lot of structure to maintain, and there are other challenges as well.
“We encounter some special problems,” says gravity systems main-tenance supervisor Mike Emarine. “There are a lot of roots in our system. There are areas with excessive groundwater, which causes problems with the bottom of CMP, and there are a lot of trees in the older parts of the city whose leaves clog the tops of catch basins and manholes.”
To stay on top of maintenance, Boulder has an ESRI-based GIS in place that is still a work in progress. “It was initially set up with points at all the catch basins and manholes, and the pipe runs were mapped and identified with very little detail, just a record number,” says Emarine. “But now, when mains, catch basins or manholes are visited or accessed, all information for that specific location is entered into the database. This information is then used to prioritize repairs, replacements and capital improvements.”
The stormwater department has one dedicated TV crew working full time, using an inspection system from CUES Inc. and a bubble top TV van. Inspection data is currently stored on VHS tapes, but Emarine expects to upgrade to digital information in 2009. GIS users can call up tape indexing from the GIS interface. Another crew works full time jetting with a jet truck from Sewer Equipment Co. of America, and cleaning with a Vactor combination truck.
Tail wags dog
Motivating a large urban population with a small staff and limited budget is hard work, but, as Rosato says, it’s necessary. Large-scale changes that have major impacts on water use and conservation must involve education.
That public outreach efforts can effect massive change is not in doubt. The substantial decrease in smoking and increase in seat belt use are examples often cited by those looking for ways to change public behaviors. By making good use of resources, and partnering with other stakeholders, the City of Boulder is getting the best possible return on its educational efforts.
