Watch out for groups of Girl Scouts and leaders roaming
West Plains painting fish on the street! No, it's not graffiti.
Local Girl Scout troups, working with the City of West Plains Storm
Water Management Program, have volunteered to stencil the message
"Dump No Waste, Drains To Stream" and the image of a bass
on storm drains, to remind all of us that storm water pollution
begins with that drain on the street.
Anita Brown, Engineering Tech/GIS Coordinator with the City of West
Plains Engineering Dept, and members of Troop 050.
Scouts and leaders from local Girl Scout Troops 050, 999, 797 and
792, and Cub Scout Pack 86, turned out on a blazing hot day to begin
the storm drain stenciling project. Four more troops will also be
working on the project later in the summer and into the fall.
Girl Scouts from Troop 797, and one Boy Scout, paint a storm drain
on Third Street.
Troop 050 leader Maggie Clifford and scouts finish up a paint job
across from the golf course.
It's something most of us never think about -- that
storm drains should never be used to dispose of wastes. Unfortunately,
storm drains do not purify and remove pollutants. Storm drains are
commonly misused for the disposal of paint, motor oil, antifreeze,
pesticides, and other wastes. All these pollutants then find their
way into our streams, rivers, lakes and eventually our groundwater.
In addition, each time it rains, storm water runoff
carries street litter, yard debris, pet wastes and other pollutants
into storm drains and then into streams. This polluted runoff is
a significant source of contamination of Missouri's water resources.
Members of Troop 999 working at the corner
of Broadway and Halstead by the park.
The
Storm Drain Stenciling Project is sponsored by the City
of West Plains and Missouri
Stream Team. The Girl Scouts Organization, MO Dept. of Transportation
and MO Dept. of Conservation are contributing to the project.
West Plains Community Awareness: Storm Water Management Program
The City of West Plains is actively implementing a Storm Water
Management Program in our community, as authorized by the Clean
Water Act which is known as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permit program. This program is designed to prevent
harmful pollutants from being washed by storm water runoff into
local water bodies or being dumped directly and then discharged
into local water bodies. The City is implementing several types
of outreach to inform and educate our community. Working together
we can make a difference and reduce the amount of pollutants entering
streams, lakes and rivers as a result of runoff from residential,
commercial and industrial areas.
Missouri Stream Team sponsors river cleanups and many other activities
throughout the state. More info: http://www.mostreamteam.org
This is the Web site of the Bryant Watershed Project,
based in West Plains, Missouri. Our site is a toolkit for exploring the
Bryant Creek, North Fork, Eleven Point and Upper Spring watersheds in
the southern Missouri Ozarks. Learn more.
West Plains Girl Scouts Stencil City Storm Drains
Stormwater
Education: Storm Drain Stenciling Project
The
Storm Drain Stenciling Project is sponsored by the 
