Northeast Wisconsin Stormwater Consortium (NEWSC) FWWA is an independent, non-profit organization that identifies issues and advocates effective policies and actions to protect, restore and sustain the water resources of Wisconsin’s Fox-Wolf River Basin. Northeast Wisconsin Stormwater Consortium (NEWSC)

Water covers 70% of our World Only 3% of the World’s Water is FRESHWATER

is found in one place 20% of the World’s Freshwater 90% of the United States’ Freshwater is found in one place

The GREAT Lakes

The Fox-Wolf Watershed

Water is very important to us. Why is water important Water is very important to us. Why is water important? (kids can talk about drinking, bathing, food source, playing, animals, business/industry needs water to make things) – if kids get down on business polluting, make sure to acknowledge that we need a lot of things industries make and now the gov’t is making sure they are not polluting our rivers and lakes too much so we really need to focus on fixing up the ways that we impact water quality.

Surface Runoff Good clean water is important to us all. Recap the answers that the kids gave and highlight any that they didn’t come up with. Why is water important (kids can talk about drinking, bathing, food source, playing, animals, business/industry needs water to make things) – if kids get down on business polluting, make sure to acknowledge that we need a lot of things industries make and now the gov’t is making sure they are not polluting our rivers and lakes too much so we really need to focus on fixing up the ways that we impact water quality.

Let’s think about Water Surface Runoff Make sure to acknowledge that they are most likely experts on the water cycle  Then have someone explain it to you. Go over Evaporation – water goes up, Condensation – clouds form and Precipitation – water comes down (rain, snow) Water Cycle image from Heights Technology Blog

We do not get NEW Water…. Surface Runoff Make sure the kids understand we do not get new water. Then ask the kids to think about what happens to a rain drop when it lands on the earth. Does it automatically go back up (evaporate) – no… what happens? It can soak into the ground - Infiltrate or Runoff the land and head for the closest body of water. Talk more about runoff – when water runs over land, does it swerve around pollution or go through pollution? I always like to talk about dog poop here 

Rain that falls here… Surface Runoff Highlight when rain falls on natural landscape – forest, prairie, ect. Rain is most likely to sink in (infiltrate)

… ends up here. Surface Runoff Rain drops that sink in, join other water in the ground (ground water) and work their way through the ground until they reach a waterbody – river, lake, creek ect. … ends up here.

Rain that falls here… Surface Runoff Note urban landscape – sidewalk, road, what happens? Does it sink in? No! It runsoff.

Enters these – ask kids if they know what these are Enters these – ask kids if they know what these are. Storm Drains (Kids call these sewers ALL the time – explain there is a difference from a storm drain (known as a storm sewer) and a sanitary sewer. 2 sets of pipes that carry water – storm drains are in the roads and carry rain water away from the city streets to help stop flooding and Sanitary sewers are the pipes that are connected to your house so that when you flush the toilet all that water and other stuff gets carried away from your house and are taken underground to a treatment plant where the water is cleaned. Do you know where the storm drains lead???? Stormwater is rain or snowmelt and water from things people do, like overwatering the lawn. As water makes it’s way to the storm drain it picks up pollutants like oil from car leaks and bacteria from pet waste. When we choose products carefully and dispose of products properly, we can greatly reduce the amount of pollution that enters our local waterways through runoff. Untreated runoff is the biggest threat to our nation’s water quality, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Let’s make the small, important changes that will reduce that threat and improve water quality and our lives!

… ends up here. Right to our rivers and lakes!!! Water runs over the ground, - I usually add a reminder… asking kids when water runs over the ground does it swerve around the pollution it comes across??? No!! It goes right through it, picking it up on the way to the storm drain. When it enters the storm drain, where does it go??? Right to our rivers and lakes! See you can actually see some garbage in the picture. … ends up here.

Rain that falls here… Surface Runoff Water doesn’t only run over the land and pick up pollution in the city. Who can tell me what we are looking at here? Right! A farm field, when water runs across a farm field that has been plowed, just like in the city, it can pick up pollution……

Surface Runoff Instead of carrying it to a storm drain in the street it may carry it to a culvert like this that leads where????

… ends up here. You guessed it! Right to our rivers and lakes. This is a real picture of polluted runoff. Here is the Fox River entering into the Bay of Geen Bay after a large rain event. Fox River at the Bay of Green Bay, April 2011. Photo credit Steve Seilo, Photodynamix … ends up here.

What’s So Bad About Stormwater Runoff?

Ever see a sign like this? (Read it) For kids in the Lower Fox River area – ask them if they swim in the Fox River? A sign like this may be posted because pathogens are found in the water. Pathogens are disease causing bacteria. Any idea where disease causing bacteria come from??

Poo! Not just poo from our dogs, but poo from birds and other animals too. There is not a lot we can do about the bird poop but what can we do about the dog poop? Who here all owns a dog?.......

Has anyone ever seen something like this? Gross right? Algae. Algae is caused from extra nutrients in our water. Any idea how extra nutrients (vitamins) get in our water?

Grass & Leaves! Who knew grass and leaves were pollution! ANYTHING that enters a waterbody that is NOT water is water pollution. Grass and leave naturally have nutrients that they need to grow in them. Does water grow? No! When grass clippings or leaves end up in our waterways the nutrients or vitamins in them are used by the algae to grow. So what can we do to help make sure grass clippings and leaves stay out of the (Fox River, Green Bay, Lake Winnebago)……..

Garbage – we all know how this gets here right Garbage – we all know how this gets here right? So what can you do about it?

What do you see here? Parking lot, storm drain – see the shiny water going into the storm drain? Is water shiny? No! Anytime you see shiny water you know that there is pollution in the water – this may be oils, gas or other things that drip out of vehicles.

We saw this picture earlier – what is it. Dirt We saw this picture earlier – what is it? Dirt! When we talk about water pollution, we call dirt sediment. Why is sediment a problem for water? I like to use the analogy of standing in a sandbox and not being able to breath good on a windy day – talk about fish not being able to pull their shirts up over their gills

So What is being done about this?

People are working hard to help Protect and Restore our Rivers & Lakes! The (City, Village, Town) of _______ is working hard to clean up the stormwater that leaves the city.

Reducing the amount of water that leaves property Have you seen parking lots being built with plants growing in the middle of the parking lot? Are they there just to look nice? While it does look nice it is there for a much more important reason. Anyone know why? Yes! Instead of the water from the parking lot going down into a storm drain and heading to our rivers and lakes, the water is directed to these grassy areas. What would happen to the water if it enters this area (see how it is deep in the middle?) Yes! It would sink in – infiltrate into the ground!

Increasing the quality of water that does leave the property Have you ever seen one of these? A street sweeper? Yes – they are out often in _______, is the city sweeping the streets just so they look nice? No! They are keeping the streets clean so that when it rains the pollution doesn’t go into the storm drain and out to our rivers!!

Finding ways to clean the water before it enters rivers and lakes Have you noticed any ponds being built in (name of your community) – why do you think they are building ponds? Because they look nice? They do but they are much more important than that! They are being built to protect the water. Remember how we said the storm drain brought water where??? (to rivers and lakes). Now that we know about how stormwater impacts the (Fox River, Lake Winnebago, Green Bay) NAME OF COMMUNITY – is working to cleanup the water before it goes to the river or lake. Storm drains are now being directed to these ponds. Where the pollution sinks to the bottom and clean water goes out. (Remember to show this with the enviroscape model – how pollution settles to the bottom). Since there is a lot of pollution in these ponds should you swim in them?

You Can Volunteer to be a Part of Our 2016 Fox-Wolf Watershed River Cleanup! Keep this slide up and head to the enviroscape model. Talk about watersheds and reteach everything you just taught in a different way Photos from April 25th 2015 Every Choice Counts.

Let’s Check out the Watershed Model! Kelly Reyer (920)915-1502 Kelly@FWWA.org For more information visit www.Renewourwaters.org