KNOW THE FACTS!

Tips for stormwater management on your property

DID YOU KNOW:

  • Yard debris, including leaves and other organic plant material like shrubbery trimmings and grass
    clippings, are a significant source of stormwater pollution. This debris can clog culverts, storm
    drains, and pipes, causing flooding.
  • Debris can carry fertilizers and pesticides from your yard and deposit them in streams and ponds.
  • Piles of leaves and grass clippings will overload a stream’s ability to process leaf litter, causing
    nutrient pollution and oxygen depletion.

 

It is easy to do your part to protect our streams and the drainage systems leading to our waterways:

  1. Do not pile leaves or other yard waste near streams or drainage channels where they can blow or wash into creeks. Use designated leaf collection bags for curbside leaf recycling.

     

  2.  Do not blow leaves or grass clippings off your property into streets, streams, ponds, or drainage swales.

     

  3. Recycle grass clippings and their nutrients on your lawn. Use a mulching lawnmower to recycle remaining leaves into your lawn in the fall!

     

  4.  Compost leaves and grass clippings along with yard waste. Select a location removed rom streams, ponds, and wetlands.

 

Questions

For more information, contact our Water Quality Division at 513-946-7800.

Writing Credit: www.crcwatersheds.org
Illustration Credit on Print Version: University of Wisconsin-Extension

 

Download a printable version of this fact sheet here.

 

250 William Howard Taft Road
2nd Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45219
Phone 513.946.7800 Fax 513.946.7890
hamiltoncountyhealth.org