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About Us
County Impact Statements - Washington County
Storm Drain Awareness Catches On in Fayetteville
In Fayetteville, a water quality survey revealed that few residents are aware
that runoff from their property flows into storm drains, under city streets to
small creeks and streams, and ultimately drains to either the Illinois River or
Beaver Lake.
In order to help city residents understand the connection between storm water
runoff from residential property and the quality of regional water resources,
the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service worked with the Fayetteville
Street Department, local school children, and Washington County 4-H members to
paint storm drain manhole covers with the message "Don’t Dump, Drains to Creek"
along with images of fish, frogs, and turtles.
The painted covers have been installed around the town square where festivals
and the Farmers Market are held, along roads that receive a lot of foot traffic,
along city parks, and throughout housing developments.
As the storm drain awareness effort has progressed, Jim Beavers, the
Fayetteville City Engineer, was interested in how the city could help ensure
that the pollution prevention message is permanently promoted near storm drains.
After researching several options including curb decals, press-in molds that set
the message into fresh concrete, and alternative manhole covers, Fayetteville
city staff have chosen to switch to storm drain manhole covers which have the
message "Don’t Dump, Drains to Creek" already forged onto the metal surface. As
of Fall 2001, the new covers were installed in neighborhoods along four new
multi-use walking trails which feature Fayetteville creeks.
Fayetteville 5th graders paint water quality messages on storm
drain covers which were placed throughout their neighborhoods.
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Impacts
- 63 storm drain messages were painted on covers throughout the city
- Over 120 4-H and local school youth learned about pollution prevention
as they painted the storm drain covers
- Photographs and articles about this storm drain awareness effort have
been featured in The Morning News, The Northwest Arkansas Times, and the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- In response to a news article, a Fayetteville resident requested that
the message be painted on a storm drain along his street to educate his
neighbor about the impacts of dumping chemicals down storm drains
- The city of Fayetteville is now installing new storm drain covers with
the message "Don’t Dump, Drains to Creek" already forged onto their surface
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