San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program

Reducing Pollutants in our Watersheds

Sarah PrattEnvironmental Health

Phone: 650-372-6245Email: spratt@co.sanmateo.ca.us

Water Pollution Prevention

San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program (SMCWPPP) is a program that aims to partner with the county's residents and businesses to prevent pollution of our local water bodies; such as creeks, the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

www.flowstobay.org

We All Live Downstream: Watersheds

• A watershed is the area of land that water flows across on its way to a creek, river, lake, bay, or ocean.

• In urban settings water travels more quickly across pavement than in a natural setting.

• Rain and hosing down carries pollutants into local waterways.

San Mateo County has 34 Watersheds

Water Drains

•Pacific Ocean

•San Francisco Bay

•Creeks

Pre-Urban Development: A Healthy Landscape

Watershed Benefits

• Wildlife habitat

• Parks & Open space

• Natural resources: water

• Nourish forests & plants

• Provide drainage corridors needed to avoid flooding

The Quality of Our Local Creeks is Linked to Land Cover

Water Pollution from Streets andParking Lots

• Oil, grease, antifreeze, heavy metals from leaking and deteriorating cars and trucks, and brake pad and tire wear

• Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers from our residential and commercial landscapes

• Solvents and household chemicals (e.g., paint thinner, detergents, and paint)

• Animal waste, litter, decomposing vegetation, and sewage from leaks

• Construction debris, such as fresh concrete or mortar

Gardening for Water Quality

Goals:

• Increase on site infiltration and reduce runoff

• Reduce contaminants in runoff

• Increase the soil’s ability to remove pollutants from runoff

Use Integrated Pest Management

“…a long-term, preventive approach to managing pests that combines biological, cultural, physical, and/or chemical options. IPM involves a decision-making process based on pest identification and population monitoring, action thresholds, and knowledge of pest biology.”

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PESTICIDE REGULATION

Prevent Pest Problems

Know & Monitor Beneficials

Check regularly with the University of California www.ipm.ucdavis.edu

Or subscribe to the IPM Practitioner or Common Sense Pest Control from the Bio-Integral Resources Center www.birc.org for up to date information.

Use Physical, Mechanical, & Biological Controls

Use Least Toxic Pesticides As Last Resort

www.flowstobay.org/pestcontrol

Pesticides to Avoid• Metaldehyde

• Malathion• Carbaryl

• Pyrethroids (Bifenthrin,

Cypermethrin, Cyfluthrin,

Permethrin)

“Our Water, Our World” Retail Partnership Program

Eliminate High Input Decorative Lawn

• Plant groundcovers, shrubs, or trees, instead of turf

• Plant native plant meadows or grassy swales that treat stormwater and resemble native grasslands

Lawn Uses

• Small area for play• Grows best in sunny

areas with well-drained soil

• Heavy water user• Avoid planting on

slopes• Min 18” buffer

between lawn & sidewalk

Sheet Mulch to Remove Lawn

See pg 38-39 in Bay Friendly Garden

• Cover with cardboard• On top of cardboard

put 6 inch layer of wood chips

• Let it rest a few months

• Plant!

Plants to Plant Instead of Lawn

• Manzanita

• Wild lilac

• Red fescue (native bunchgrass)

• Wooly Thyme (drought –tolerant)

• Prairie of red fescue, purple needlegrass, and wild flowers

• Others see pg 56 in Bay Friendly Garden

Minimize Site Disturbance

• All Soil should have mulch or plant cover

• Retain natural topographic features

• Do not increase steep slopes

• Limit clearing to road, utility building pad, and landscape areas

Choose and Maintain your Materials & Equipment Carefully

• Choose low emission equipment

• Repair oil leaks and recycle spent oil

• Specify low VOC paints, sealants, solvents, adhesives

• Use sustainably harvested wood

Keep Soil and Organic Matter Where it Belongs

• Keep plant materials away from storm drains, creek banks, and the shoreline.

Don’t let the stormdrain look like this:

Minimize Impervious Surfaces

• Watershed quality decreases rapidly when the total impervious area exceeds 10%.

• Yet typical single-family housing projects have 25-50% impervious surfaces.

Landscaped Areas

By landscaping you are already creating and maintaining areas of pervious surfaces.

Direct drain spout to landscaped areas

Green Roofs

Plant and Protect TreesDesign landscape to

protect 80% of existing, mature, healthy trees

Select trees to:• Microclimate• Soil characteristics• CA Natives or low H2O

Plant• Large stature• Groves & hydrozones

Manage and Maintain the Irrigation System Carefully

Poor sprinkler design Avoid over-watering

Design a System to Capture and Treat Water

Catching, slowing and retaining water will promote infiltration and removal of pollutants, as well as minimize stormwater runoff:

• Stormwater curb extension

• Rain garden

• Drain to vegetated swale

• Rain barrel

Green Streets & Parking Lots

• All resources for capture and treatment of water found in our new Design Guidebook

• Ch 2 Stormwater Facility Strategies

• www.flowstobay.org/greenstreets

Resources Water Pollution Prevention

www.flowstobay.org IPM Websites: www.ourwaterourworld.org

& www.ipm.ucdavis.edu & www.epa.gov/greenscapes

Ask The Expert Bay-Friendly Gardening guidelines, and UC

Statewide IPM Project books

www.flowstobay.org/pestcontrol

www.flowstobay.org/landscape

Questions??? Homework Assignment: Anything new

you learned from reading Stormwater Brochure or Pollution Prevention Post Newsletter? Any questions after reading?

Sarah Pratt650-372-6245spratt@co.sanmateo.ca.us