By Heather Williams
Fort Leonard Wood is bordered by two rivers: The Big Piney River on the east side and the Roubidoux Creek on the western side. These resources not only provide the installation drinking water, but are also great resources for recreation. This is why working together to protect them is so important.
Before we can do that, we need to know what pollutes them and how those pollutants get into our waterways.
Common things like yard chemicals, oil, grease, detergents, soil and litter can easily pollute our waterways and impair water quality. When it rains, the water flow, known as stormwater runoff, will pick up these pollutants from surfaces such as vehicles, buildings, parking lots and the ground and carry them through the storm sewer system in drainage ditches and storm drains to our rivers and streams.
Unlike a sewer system, the storm sewer system does not filter pollutants from the runoff. It is for this reason that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources have issued the post a Municipal Stormwater Permit. The permit regulates stormwater discharges and requires the installation to develop a Stormwater Program designed to mitigate polluted runoff and maintain water quality.
The program has several different parts, which work together to meet the permit requirements which include educating and involving the public. This means sustaining our water resources is a group effort.
Many of the things we can do are very simple but very beneficial. We call these “things” best management practices. The installation’s Environmental Office has developed a manual that outlines these BMPs for general and more specific activities conducted throughout the installation. This manual can be obtained upon request from our office.
Some of the more general BMPs that we can all do are as follows:
— Pick up after pets
— Properly dispose of household hazardous materials
— Wash privately owned vehicles in grassy areas or commercial car washes
— Pick up/rake up yard debris
— Place drip pans under vehicles
— Conduct vehicle maintenance inside of a garage or Auto Craft Center
— Do not litter
Protecting water quality is simple and with everyone working together, we will be able to enjoy our rivers and streams for years to come.
For more information about the Fort Leonard Wood Stormwater Program, call 573.596.0882.
(Editor’s note: Williams is a Stormwater Compliance Specialist with the DPW Environmental Compliance Branch.)