WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS
Post-Rainy Season Thanks and Future Tips
Our rainy season has officially ended, and the County thanks its businesses for the tremendous job you’ve done by regularly taking action to prevent stormwater pollution and helping our waterways flourish! That’s no easy feat with all the challenges that the rains presented for businesses and our environment. Heavy rain not only can cause project delays, increased costs, and safety hazards for workers and customers, but it can also contribute to stormwater pollution. Stormwater runoff from commercial properties can carry pollutants like oil, sediment, and trash untreated to our water bodies. This degrades our water quality, harms aquatic life, and poses a public health concern.
|
Future Rainy Season Resources and Tips
There’s no better time than now, during the dry season, to begin preparing before the next rainy season (October through April) or even for those unexpected summer rains. By reviewing the resources and tips below, your business can be ready throughout the year and make a huge impact in protecting our water quality, aquatic life, and community health for years to come.
-
Resources for a Stormwater-Ready Business
-
Business Storm Preparedness Tips – As the next rainy season approaches, businesses should focus on conducting frequent inspections of their outdoor areas prone to trash build-up or spills, storage areas, and storm drain inlets. Key activities to prevent pollutants from leaving your property include elevating and covering materials stored outdoors and removing any vegetation, litter, and sediment build-up from storm drain inlets.
-
Act Now: Pollution Prevention Checklist – When rains are actually forecasted, it’s time to do a last-minute inspection and clean-up of your property. Easy actions like turning off your sprinkler system, sweeping up debris around dumpsters and storm drains, and securing lids on trash bins can go a long way to protect our waterways. It’s also important to have sandbags, gravel bags, and straw wattles handy for emergency erosion control. We provide free sand and bags to businesses to protect their property! Call the location ahead of time for hours of operation and sandbag availability.
-
Employee Training for Stormwater Awareness – The County has developed these videos in both English and Spanish to help educate your employees on stormwater awareness and train them on how to best inspect your business to prevent stormwater pollution.
-
Monitor existing stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) throughout the year. BMPs are techniques or controls used to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants into the storm drain system. For BMPs specific to your industry, check out the County’s WPO Guidance Handbook to Reduce Water Pollution and Industrial/Commercial Educational Resources webpage. In reviewing these resources, you’ll find helpful information for automotive facilities, pest control operators, food establishments, and many more industries, on how to reduce pollutants generated by operational activities specific to your business.
For even more resources to help businesses prevent stormwater pollution year-round, go to the County’s Watershed Protection Program webpage.
|
|
|
|
Find My District
|
|
ONLINE SERVICES
Report Stormwater Pollution
Report observed pollution to the correct jurisdiction.
Citizen Access Portal
Research property information and permits. Apply for some permits online.
GIS Maps
Find property information including zoning designation with our web-based mapping tool.
Watershed Protection Website
sandiegocounty.gov/stormwater
Learn more about available water quality rebates that you could apply to your property!
Project Clean Water efforts are focused on providing a centralized point of access to water quality information and resources for San Diego County Watersheds. Click HERE to visit Project Clean Water’s website.
|
|
|
|
