A main purpose of these "Pilot Communities" pages is to share news from communities participating in the Healthy Ecosystems / Healthy Communities project, as well as celebrate the progress they are making.

In addition, the right-hand column of each page will be devoted to important  documents and other resources your community can use in its assessment and project planning efforts.

Individual community pages can be accessed below or from the left sidebar:

Greeley
Melvern
Rossville

Understanding Best Management Practices

There are many ways homeowners, businesses, and agricultural producers can help protect their water quality and keep their land from eroding away by just changing the WAY things are done. These new ways of doing things are often referred to as “best management practices” or BMPs. Many of us use BMPs often like when we get groceries on the way home to save gasoline, or we turn off the lights when we leave a room to conserve electricity. BMPs that protect water are just as easy; they just involve doing things a little differently!

Below are a few BMPs we can use to reduce contaminants that affect water quality.

Animal waste contributes to water pollution when it is left uncovered and is improperly stored near small streams and storm drains. Soiled bedding and manure from pets and livestock should be collected on a daily basis. It can be stored in sturdy, insect resistant, seepage-free units such as plastic garbage cans with lids, composters, and pits or trenches lined with an impermeable layer. This composted bedding and manure can be used in your own garden or flowerbed, or given away to local greenhouses in your community as a natural and cheap fertilizer.

 Check your car, boat, motorcycle and other machinery and farm equipment for leaks and spills often. Make repairs as soon as possible and clean up spilled fluids with an absorbent material such as kitty litter or sand. Do not rinse the spills into a nearby storm drain. Recycle used oil and other automotive fluids at participating service stations. Do not dump these chemicals down the storm drain or dispose of them in your trash.

Whenever possible, purchase and use nontoxic, biodegradable, recycled, and recyclable products. Make sure your trash is properly anchored down so it cannot topple over easily and ensure it always remains covered. Trash and debris from household use can easily travel to a nearby storm drain causing not only an eye soar, but also storm water contamination and clogging of storm drains. Pick up trash and recycle within your community as often as possible.