WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT STORM WATER?

Because We’ve Grown

Employees clean stormdrain inlets to ensure good street drainage and improved water quality.
The Salt Lake Valley has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Neighborhoods have replaced open farmland. Shopping centers and business parks stand in what were open fields. We’ve paved and cemented many open areas, not only changing the natural storm water flow patterns of our valley, but increasing the storm water flow. Our task, as we develop our city, is to rechannel that storm water away from our basements, away from our streets and intersections, and away from areas where it can cause expensive property damage. Our primary goal is to have our storm water system keep pace with our building development.

And Because We Care

Another reason is because we care about our environment. Much of our flow to streams comes from our storm water system. We have choices for cleaning our storm water: Implement programs now to abate pollution in stormwater run-off, or later be required to build the same kinds of treatment facilities as we use to treat our sanitary sewage. The first alternative is far less expensive and far more ecologically sound.

Protecting Our Environment

You are the most important person in determining the quality of our storm water. Our storm water originates in mountain snowpack and summer rains but before it gets into our drainage system, it passes through our neighborhoods. This storm water – along with the residual detergents from car washes, pesticides and fertilizers from our lawns, oils from our streets and driveways, and the trash from our community it carries – flows into the gutter and directly into our storm water system. Even the litter from our streets eventually ends up in our storm water system.

New EPA regulations require that we test and improve our storm water quality. We are required to file for permits assuring the future quality of our storm water and protecting the rivers, lakes, and wetlands into which it drains. As part of our permit requirements, we sample runoff throughout Salt Lake as required under the City’s EPA Storm Water Quality Permit.

Clean rivers and streams begin at your home!

Here’s What You Can Do!

  • Recycle motor oil and anti-freeze.
  • Properly dispose of household hazardous and toxic substances.
  • Sweep sidewalks and drives. Do not hose down the gutter.
  • Minimize the use of pesticides and herbicides.
  • Don’t over fertilize or fertilize before a rain storm.
  • Control sediment migration and erosion.
  • Do not litter.
  • Do not over water. “Don’t be a gutter flooder.”
  • Clean up and properly dispose of pet waste.
  • Collect leaf and landscaping debris and dispose of properly. 

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