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| Storm Drain Stenciling | River Cleanup | Trash in Turnouts | The Water We Drink | |
Dear Westfield River Watershed members and supporters: This fall the WRWA Board has begun a more active search for grant opportunities. A starting point is to decide what kinds of projects we'd like to work on, then to search for funding agencies whose missions match well with those projects. Our initial efforts have been directed toward finding funding for storm drain stenciling programs throughout the Watershed. The goal is to decrease the volume of pollutants entering our rivers through local storm drain systems - which almost always drain directly into nearby streams, without being treated in any way. The program involves painting simple stencils onto the pavement near storm drains, typically with a text message like "Dump No Waste - Drains to River". In conjunction with the stenciling, we plan to distribute flyers to homes in the vicinity of the storm drains being stenciled - informing residents about the program and making sure that they understand the undesirable consequences of dumping oil, antifreeze, pesticides or other household materials into those storm drains. This program would provide a great volunteer opportunity for scouts or church youth groups. If you know of such a group that might be interested in helping out, please let me know. We've also learned that The Nature Conservancy has been awarded a 3-year grant to collect information on stream crossings and dams within the Watershed, and to begin to address some of the stream continuity issues raised by those structures. Many culverts, for example, pose barriers to the movement of fish and other small animals as a result of inlet or outlet drops that are too high to navigate. During surveys in June and September a number of WRWA members and other volunteers gathered information on roughly 100 structures - dimensions of culverts, the extent to which they modify stream flow, continuity of substrate through the culverts, and photographs! Each structure typically takes 15 minutes or so to evaluate. With more than 1,000 of these sites within the Watershed, this project will require considerable volunteer effort. If you have any interest in participating, give me a call at 572-5741 - we're hoping to continue the surveying through the fall and early winter. The Nature Conservancy grant provides funds for producing the needed GIS maps, for entering the information collected into a database and prioritizing the various stream crossings, and for remediation of some of the higher priority sites. This is a great opportunity to get directly involved in a project that will have measurable positive effects on our Watershed. I'll keep you posted on our efforts to attract funding for Watershed projects, and hope that you'll find time during the coming months to attend one of the indoor or outdoor programs described in this newsletter. Happy Holidays, Mike Young President |
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