Community Cleanups for Water Quality!
Imagine Minnesota’s 10.000 lakes full of clean, clear, fresh water for our children and grandchildren to enjoy. Fish are plentiful, birds line the shores, and there is water for recreation, industry and growing food. This beautiful image is not just a dream, it’s the Freshwater Society’s plan, and you can be part of making that vision a reality. The idea behind Community Cleanups for Water Quality is deceptively simple and cost-effective: locally-led groups of volunteers, rake, sweep, bag and remove loose dirt and leaves blocking sewer grates on city streets. The material is then composted to prevent pollutants such as phosphorus from entering lakes, rivers and streams.
Depending on the mix of materials, for every five bags (100 pounds) of leaves and other organic debris you collect, you prevent up to a pound of phosphorus from entering a local water body. Each pound of phosphorus can cause up to 1,000 pounds of algae. Your group or organization will be able to prevent thousands of pounds of algae growth in the lakes, rivers and streams near your home.
In Minnesota, we know that about 40% of our waters are polluted, choked by algae in the summer months. That pollution threatens fishing, swimming and other recreational uses. Leaves, grass clippings and loose soil in our storm drains are a big part of why Minnesota’s lakes and river turn green with algae. Community Cleanups for Water Quality are an important part of the solution. The goal of the Spring clean-ups, typically held in April, after the snow melts, is to catch the winter’s accumulation of decaying leaves and other organic material before spring rains wash it through the sewers to lakes and streams. Fall clean-ups, held in October and November, remove leaves before they are crushed into small pieces by car traffic and begin to decay.
Community Clean-Ups for Water Quality also help meet the requirements of municipal stormwater programs by providing valuable public education and outreach and engaging citizens to participate in stormwater pollution problems. Community Clean-Ups for Water Quality make good economic sense as well. If municipalities needed to remove phosphorus from wastewater before discharging it back into local waters, it could cost up to $300 per pound. Every pound of phosphorus we keep out of the waters saves real money.
Community Clean-Ups for Water Quality has been a successful program of the Friends of Minnesota Valley since 2003. Through an innovative partnership, the Friends have partnered with the Freshwater Society to bring Community Cleanups for Water Quality statewide. The mission of the Freshwater Society is to promote the conservation, protection and restoration of all freshwater resources.
We have assembled a toolkit to help you implement a Community Clean-Up for Water Quality in your area. The Freshwater Society will also host a series of regional open houses in spring of 2011 to help community groups get started organizing local cleanups. Look for more information on dates and times this spring.
For more information on Community Cleanups for Water Quality, or to download the Toolkit, visit our website- http://freshwater.org/index.php/projects/community-cleanups-for-water-quality
Or contact:
Peggy Knapp
Director of Programs
Freshwater Society
2150 Third Avenue North, Suite 110, Anoka, MN 55303
(763) 219-1252
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