What Are All Those Markings on Our Streets?

On August 16, 2017, GroundWork Somerville’s Green Team descended on the Ten Hills Neighborhood and Mystic Housing Area in Somerville, sporting spray paint, orange vests and stencils. While this might seem suspicious, they were there to assist with a water quality education campaign with the Mystic River Watershed Association and City of Somerville by stenciling Somerville’s stormdrains.

In this public awareness initiative, Green Team members and community volunteers painted a stenciled message: “Dump No Waste – Drains to River” on approximately 85 stormdrains in four languages: English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese.

This stenciling project aims to make people aware of the fact that stormdrains in this area of Somerville are not connected to a public sewer. As a result, anything that flows into them will not be sent to Deer Island to be treated, but drains directly to the Mystic River. Under no circumstances should anyone dump anything down stormdrains! In addition, it is important for people to realize that all products that are applied to their lawn and gardens also have the potential to be carried down the stormdrain by rainwater, also known as stormwater runoff.

Each individual property can contribute to the cumulative decline of water quality in our local streams and rivers. For additional information regarding stormwater and local water quality, please contact the Mystic River Watershed Association, 781-316-3438 or visit www.MysticRiver.org.

About the Mystic River Watershed Association:

The Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) works to improve the lives of the more than half million residents of Mystic River communities through its efforts to protect and restore water quality, natural habitat and open space throughout the 76 square mile watershed.

For more information see www.MysticRiver.org.