Latest Updates

Where You Leave Your Leaves Matters!

The amount of phosphorus in grass clippings generated from just one lawn mowing can produce up to 100 lbs. of unwanted algae if it ends up in our lakes and ponds. Leaf “litter” and landscape trash account for 56% of the phosphorus in urban stormwater, in addition to clogging storm drains and increasing debris in our streams and waterways.

Foam in Waterways

Where is the foam from?

It is common for organic matter naturally found in our waterways to decompose, releasing fatty molecules (lipids) that produce the foam we see on the surface of the water. This happens every year, usually during the spring runoff season, but it can also occur during periods of high precipitation and high temperatures in summer and fall months. The foam is most apparent at locations where the water is naturally agitated by flowing over rocks or discharging from pipes. The foam produced may be more than a foot deep!

How to Poop Anywhere Outside

There’s an unwritten rule that all campfire conversations eventually lead to a round-robin of bathroom disaster stories.

It’s Time to Talk About Dog Poop

In the United States, pet dogs produce 21.2 billion pounds of poop each year. All that poop is polluting water sources, both in urban areas and the backcountry, largely because dog owners aren’t doing a good enough job picking it up. Let’s look at the reasons why dog poop has become such a problem, and examine what we can do about it.

Why Dog Poop Matters

Two reasons: There’s too much of it and it’s full of bacteria and parasites. 

Leave No Poop Behind (Interview)

Research shows that most dog owners pick up after their pets in the street and at the local park, but often don’t take along a plastic bag when out hiking in the backcountry, assuming it’s no big deal. But Wes Siler, a contributing editor to Outside Magazine, tells host Steve Curwood that all that dog poop does add up to potential harm by introducing foreign bacteria and nutrients to forests, fields, and streams.

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[SOUNDS OF BARKING AND PLAYING DOGS]

Scientists don't know why one-third of U.S. rivers have turned yellow or green

Satellite images of rivers across the U.S. have revealed a troubling color-changing trend: Over the past three decades, one-third of formerly blue rivers have turned a shade of yellow or green. The discovery comes after an analysis of nearly 235,000 images taken from 1984 to 2018. Amongst the rivers that changed color, 56 percent were mostly yellow and 38 percent were mostly green.

Recycled Plastic Roads Pave the Way to More sustainable Infrastructure

It’s not often you can help solve two of the world’s problems with a single solution. Dutch startup PlasticRoad, however, is doing just that. To tackle both plastic pollution and climate change, the company is producing the next generation of sustainable infrastructure: roads made out of recycled plastic.

Culvert Lining Training

Develops an understanding for how to correctly assess damaged and failing storm system infrastructure as well as provides guidance for inspection and lining projects

Water-Saving Technology You Should Care About

Did you know 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, but only 1% of that is available for humans to use?

The pace of our global society is moving too fast for water to fulfill its potential as a renewable resource. We have made fresh water into a finite resource. Water resources, like groundwater, are being depleted because they aren’t able to recharge at the same rate of our growing population and increased agricultural activity. Basically, we consume water at a highly unsustainable and concerning rate.

Water Saving Tips

Making simple changes to your water use behavior can save lots of water. If we all reduced the amount of water we use by even a small amount, we could make a huge difference to our total consumption. Here are just a few practical tips to help you save water in and around your home.

Only Wash with a Full Load

Use your washing machine only when you have a full load. Reducing your washing by just one load a week will save around 32 gallons of water.

Replace Your Toilet

EPA awards Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment grant funding to prevent pollution

Denver, CO (September 23, 2020) – Today, during Pollution Prevention (P2) Week, the U.S.

Questions and Answers About Drought and Water Conservation

Q.  How much water do landscapes use in California?
A.  Landscape irrigation accounts for only about 9% of total statewide developed water use, but the percentage varies widely among communities.  Water applied to landscapes is estimated to account for about 50% of residential water consumption statewide, but the amount varies from about 30% in some coastal communities to 60% or more in many inland suburban communities.

2020 Bike Tour Final Report

The Barr Lake and Milton Reservoir Watershed Association (BMW) in collaboration with the Colorado Stormwater Council (CSC) and the City and County of Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), created a virtual bike tour for 2020.  The tour went ‘live’ and was posted to YouTube on June 23rd.   Registration was free for all participants.

E&O Committee Update - Trashcan Cleaning

There are cleaning instructions printed on most curbside trashcans (see image attached) that may be misleading so we are encouraging CSC members to adopt the following Residential and Commercial Tips to avoid encouraging residents to rinse their trash cans on the curbside as pollutants such as e-Coli, harsh cleaners, oils, etc may impact water quality.

Residential Tip:

E&O Committee Update - FACEBOOK Account!!

The Colorado Stormwater Council has a FACEBOOK account! Please help us spread the word. Thank you to Heather Otterstetter with Westminster for creating the account and volunteering to administrate it. Please send any publishing requests to her directly.