James Tierney The E.P.A. has found polluted runoff to be the #1 threat to our water quality
Nonpoint source pollution cannot be traced to an easily identifiable origin or "point," but derives from many activities and locations. Water washing over the land, whether from rain, car washing or the watering of crops or lawns, picks up an array of contaminants including oil and sand from roadways, sediment from construction sites,.agricultural chemicals from farmland, and nutrients and toxic materials from urban and suburban areas. The polluted runoff finds its way into our waterways, either directly or through storm collecton systems. "Stormwater" is one aspect of nonpoint source pollution, and is the result of rainwater or snowmelt washing over paved or impenetrable (impervious) surfaces, growing in velocity and volume as it does so, and ultimately causing erosion and flooding. (See "NEMO Project Fact Sheet #2" in this guide).

Heather Baker-Sullivan re: costs of fixing water infrastructure
"The United States is facing a nearly one trillion dollar deficit for water infrastructure over the next 20 years. About 90% of the funding must come from local governments, and ultimately, you, the taxpayer. That's about $3,500 for each person living in the U.S."

Water infrastructure includes wastewater (sewage), stormwater and drinking water systems, both pipes and plants. Clean and Safe Water for the 21st Century, Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), April 2000 provided the estimate of one trillion. WIN is a broad coalition of drinking water and wastewater agencies, municipal and state government officials, engineers and environmentalists dedicated to protecting and preserving the public health, environmental and economic gains that America's water and wastewater infrastructure provides. Census 2000 figures for total U.S. population were used, along with the estimate from the WIN report, to arrive at the approximate cost of $3,500 per person.

Mason Adams re: what you can do
You can find excellent advice on environmentally friendly gardening and lawn care practices by contacting: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester at www.cce.cornell.edu or 914-285-4620. See also www.westchestergov.com, "water quality" for other actions you may take on an individual basis.

For a summary of what towns and municipalities can do, (and therefore what you can urge your town officials to do), see the League of Women Voters conference handout following these explanatory notes: "How Local Government Can Prevent and Fix the Problem."

Don Lake re: the problem of erosion to water quality
Soil erosion is not a commonly known water quality problem. However, a trout fisherman named John Keane, and his son, Vincent , recently undertook a study of eroded sites around the Croton Watershed ("A Study of Storm Water Conveyances as Point Sources of Pollution in the East of Hudson", Trout Unlimited, New York Water Watch, Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition, July 2000 www.newyorkwaterwatch.org ). The impetus for their work was the loss of trout habitat in the Croton Watershed due, in large part, to soil washing into the streams that feed into the reservoir system east of the Hudson River and, effectively, suffocating the vegetation which trout feed upon. Don Lake explains a site suggested by John Keane as a good local example of soil erosion due to runoff.

As the site suggests, rapidly moving stormwater can increase erosion from all land, ,not just streambanks and streambeds. As the Natural Resources Defense Council reports "Each year erosion from construction sites puts millions of tons of soil, or 'sediment' into receiving waters. Sediment clogs harbors and other water transport routes and reduces the storage capacity of reservoirs, obliging government to spend billions of dollars each year to dredge and maintain channels and facilities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges 83 million cubic yards of sediment linked to pollution sources each year at an annual cost of $180 million. In many cases, these dredged sediments are laden with nutrients, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals ­ making disposal expensive". "(Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution, NRDC, May 1999, Ch. 2 , "The Consequences of Urban Stormwater Pollution").

Don Lake Re: E.P.A. Rule
Why do we explain these new regulations? The League believes that without broad citizen involvement, the Phase II program will fail to realize the goal of significantly reducing and preventing polluted runoff. The Department of Environmental Conservation (D.E.C., New York state's "E.P.A.") employs only two staffpersons presently to enforce stormwater regulations in seven rapidly urbanizing counties in our region: Westchester, Putnam, Sullivan, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster and Rockland. We do not yet know how much the state will be devoting in resources for enforcement of the new Phase II requirements. Although local municipalities are required to provide public education and encourage public involvement, they have five years to fully implement all aspects of their stormwater management plans, including education. Given the urgency of the problem, and the lack of staffing at the state level, the League believes strongly that public involvement in the program is needed from the very beginning, and so launched this project.

"The E.P.A. Stormwater Phase II Rule" follows Phase I which regulated runoff in more densely populated areas (100,000 per sq mi) and construction disturbing 5 acres or more. All of Westchester is likely to be covered under the Phase II Rule, and much of the county will be regulated for the first time. For further details, see a summary of the Rule in this study guide. The finalized regulations for New York state were not available at the time of this printing, but will be posted on the D.E.C.'s website: www.dec.state.ny.us.

The visual of rainwater becoming stormwater as it rushes over pavement to a street storm drain illustrates the problem of paved or impenetrable surfaces (parking lots, roads and the roofs of buildings, or impaired soils). The location and amount of these surfaces in a given watershed have been clearly linked to water quality degradation. Watersheds that have from 10% to 20% impervious surfaces show signs of ecological stress. Citizens can help by urging officials to "retrofit" i.e. fix runoff problems from already existing development. Even more critical, citizens can prevent sprawl development by joining in the review of any development proposals for amount and location of impervious surfaces to determine water quality impacts. ("Sprawl" is poorly planned low-density auto-oriented development that spreads out from the center of communities. See "sprawl" at www. planputnam.org for more information on the environmental and economic costs of sprawl. See also "NEMO Materials"in this guide.)

Don Lake re: programs that work and save taxpayer dollars
The examples featured in the video reported are part of a compilation of 100 case studies nationwide. See (www.nrdc.org , "water" Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution, NRDC, May 1999 ).

Don Lake re: financing
See "Federal/State Funding Sources Available to Municipalities", "Long Term Planning for Stormwater Management" and "Other Resources" in League handout. Visit the D.E.C. website for updated information on funding opportunities for municipalities (www.dec.state.ny.us). Adequate financing for stormwater will be a focus of League advocacy.

Don Lake re: communicating with your local officials
The League of Women Voters supports a proactive role on the part of New York State in promoting regional land use planning, containing urban sprawl and enhancing urban neighborhoods. However, land use decision making authority in New York state ultimately rests with municipalities. A few informed and active citizens in each community can make an enormous difference. We hope this information can get you involved in local land use planning and other measures to address runoff. For local groups working on water quality in your area, visit www.fcwc.org or www.planputnam.org for links. You can also join the League of Women Voters by contacting us at 914-949-0507 or visiting watpa.org/lwv.