Transcript from Interview

Q1. Could you introduce yourself to the website users?

My name is Jennifer Omen and I am the education and outreach coordinator for the Butte Environmental Counsel and the outreach coordinator specifically for the Chico urban stream alliance runoff pollution prevention program.

Q2. How is urban runoff lethal to the creeks and why should we care?

The reason that it is dangerous is because most people are not aware of the fact the water in the gutters drain directly to the creeks without being treated. With awareness comes changing behavior, but at present time most people don't realize that if they drop their litter on the ground, like their cigarette butts or wash their car in the driveway and the soap runs down to the gutter, that it's dangerous because all the water is going to go directly right into the waterways and the waterways are like a system of life that feed into each other. Streams into creeks, creeks into rivers and rivers into the ocean. The habitat gets destroyed.

Q3. What exactly is Proposition 13?

It was a proposition that the public voted on. It was basically allotting a certain amount of public money to be spent on watershed protection. So part of that money went for programs like these which come out of the state water board's office and also through CALFED. So it's kind of like the state and the federal government working together to do watershed protection.

Q4. Is the Proposition 13 money spent only on education?

It's not just education and outreach; the money isn't just spent on that. It's spent on citizen monitoring programs, where people go and they learn how to test what is in the creek water and map out the data so they can see what is happening to our waterways. Also, the money goes to help cities or municipalities to test and if needed improve their equipment that they have in their storm drain system. That is the neat thing about this Proposition 13 money that is being spent to protect our water. It is not just one group trying to do it; it is a partnership between the city, non-profits, watershed groups which are also non-profit but represent stakeholders who use the water, which we are all stakeholders right, because we all drink water, so anybody can be a part of it.

Q5. We know that CALFED is a federal program that deals with the quality of California's waters, so who decides how the money is spent from Proposition 13, and where does it come from?

It's the taxpayers that voted for how this money would be spent. So it's Proposition 13 money, and then it comes through CALFED and they give the money, and the State Water board makes sure that we are following the rules.

Q6. What is the most important water law in California?

The big law from on high is the Clean Water Act. It is kind of the umbrella under which all these things get implemented and these plans get made. The city has a storm water management plan on their website and they have to make it publicly known what they are required to do and what their deadlines are to do it by, and it all comes out of that Clean Water Act, that law.

Q7. Can you tell us about Citizen Monitoring Programs?

It happens all over the United States. This is a new movement. It's been happening for a long time but it is more and more common because of these watershed protection grants that taxpayers voted for. There's lots of citizen monitoring or stream monitoring programs. It takes a long time over a period of years of people consistently testing certain what they call parameters and constituents. Constituents means what are they looking at. They are looking at E. coli bacteria for animal wastes, like dog poop and stuff that might end up in the water and cause imbalances in the habitats. They test consistently for years and then they make maps of their data and then they are able to see what they call trends in the waterway that they are testing. Anybody can get trained how to test certain tests on the water and this is people who like science and math or people who just want to learn about water testing.

Q8. What are other constituents that citizens test for?

They test for temperature, pH and turbidity, depth; they take pictures upstream, downstream. They also test for oxygen level. That tells them how many fertilizers are in the water, which can throw the plants and the fish out of balance if there are too many fertilizers.

Q9. Why is it better to wash things on the lawn rather on the driveway?

They can do that stuff on the lawn because the ground will cleanse a lot of pollutants for us.

Q10. In your opinion, how come people let litter in the gutters?

I think a lot of us didn't grow up thinking that way and people didn't realize that it went right into their waterways, but all cities are like that. It's not really a huge problem until you get too many people, and so they don't realize it will slide off down the driveway or down the street and go right down in the water.

Q11. How should people use pesticides?

If they have to use a pesticide, to use it very sparingly and to make sure they don't apply it right before it rains, because then it means just wasting their money, too, and it rinses, washes off down through the storm drain. Or, that they would use alternatives, which I think one of the most popular alternatives, is what is called Integrated Pest Management, or what the third graders I worked with call Garden Friendly Critters.

Q12. What is Integrated Pest Management?

It's trying to introduce, organic farmers use these methods, where you introduce pests into your garden that actually eat the ones you don't want, like praying mantises, ladybugs, and garden spiders are really helpful.

Q13. Is there anybody or place we can go to to learn more about Pest Management, and why?

I do refer people to UC Davis extension website. It's called IPM, Integrated Pest Management. They have done a lot of research on it and they provide all these places are reference sites that you can go to. Integrated Pest Management: www.ipm.ucdavis.edu .

Q14. What is a pesticide?

It's a poison to kill unwanted pests in your garden or your lawn that won't harm the actual food [plants].

Q15. What can we say to encourage our community to care change their actions?

We want to say, this is what we need to do instead and here is how you can do it and this is how we can help, that aren't just, "You guys are so evil for ruining the creeks!"

Q16. Which businesses could be a problem in water pollution?

Our focus has been on landscape contractors and carpet cleaners because they go to people's homes and provide a service that has a lot of potential for damaging the creeks. So we have been trying to talk to them and teach them about BMP's. BMP's means Best Management Practices, which is a fancy way of saying the best way to do something. Nurseries too, because nurseries use a lot of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers and things like that. So we need them to be really careful also.

Q17. What are the worst ways for carpet cleaner businesses to pollute?

Yea, the dumping the waste water right into the gutter, which was a practice that happened a lot before people were aware.

Q18. What is your program doing to lessen the impact of these businesses in our water?

What we do is we have what's called a Clean Water Business Partnership Program and we reward businesses with free advertising who do the right thing, and they make a pledge or promise. We don't check on them and we accept their pledge and we know that the public would let us know if they weren't doing what they said they'd do. What we are trying to do is create something outside of government where the consumers support better business practices and so after a while the tide shifts and people realize that they could use how they spend their money to affect the environment.

Q19. Why are plastic bags so lethal to our environment?

A plastic bag just keeps breaking into little pieces; it doesn't go back into the earth. So if something is biodegradable, it is ok because it is not the same type of litter. They [plastic bags] don't biodegrade, they photo-degrade, which means the sun, the heat, breaks them down. So they are not a fertilizer turning into a nutrient in the water. We could throw out things that would break back down easily and become part of the earth and wouldn't harm anything, but the plastic bags don't break back down and become part of the earth again and not harm anything. They are petroleum based and they break into these little small pieces that fish think are fish food and eat them and they don't digest and they kill them.

Q20. Do plastic bags cause more issues than just pollution?

The bag issue is a multi-pronged issue. It is a pollution issue. It is an oil use, fossil fuel issue, but too many of them are really bad.

Q21. People say that soap is so harmful to the environment, but it is almost essential to keep our home and things clean. Are there things that can be less harmful that we could use?

Yes, there are. Do you guys know that (I think this is totally amazing) is that we really don't need soap? Vinegar and water, a perfect 1-1 ratio is an antibacterial cleaner.

Q22. What is the Annual Endangered Species Faire?

It is a huge citywide environmental faire. About 6,000 people come and lots of non-profits come and set up booths. It's for kids and they play games and they learn about the environmental stewardship, through music and games and theater and stuff like that.

Q23. What is a good way to approach educating people about this pollution problem?

Learning how to get your message across while being playful and creative and encouraging. I think people are tired of hearing all this bad news about the environment and we don't want them to feel discouraged before they even get started trying to make a difference. We are all in this same boat together, so we all have to learn together. Some of us know more than others, and we just need to encourage those people too to teach other people.

Q24. Is there anything else you would like to comment on?

The environment is an extension of our home. That is our water and our air. The better we treat it, the better our lives will be.