Humboldt Waterways Start On Your Street!
What can we do to prevent pollution in our creeks, rivers, Humboldt Bay and the ocean?
Even though you may live miles from a river or Humboldt Bay, you may be polluting local waters without knowing it. Day after day, motor oil, paints, and household and garden chemicals are washed into neighborhood street gutters. These pollutants are carried by rain into the storm drain system that empties into local creeks and sloughs.
On a rainy day in Humboldt County, have you ever wondered what happens to:
• Motor oil and gas on your driveway, in parking lots, or on roads?
• Antifreeze drained into the street gutter?
• Fertilizers and pesticides on your lawn and garden?
• Bare soil on the hillside?
These are just some of the pollutants that mix with water and flow through the storm drain system that runs beneath our streets. Storm drain water flows directly into our waterways without treatment.
Did you know that dumping one quart of motor oil down a storm drain contaminates a quarter of a million gallons of water? Before you pour anything into the street, gutter, or down the storm drain, stop and think!
Drain Inlet
Storm drains flow directly into creeks and through sloughs and marshes.
Humboldt Bay is the second largest estuary in California and the most ecologically diverse coastal embayment on the U.S. west coast. It provides habitat for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. It is home to more than 100 fish species and 350 invertebrate animal species - many of which are commercially valuable and dependent on the Bay for spawning and rearing habitat.
Runoff from the storm drains can have a significant impact on water quality. During the rainy season, large amounts of pollutants flow into the Bay and rivers, depositing toxins and sediments. These pollutants build up, continually degrading water quality. Polluted storm drain runoff presents an ongoing hazard for the fish, birds, and other wildlife living in and around waterways and for all who use and enjoy them.