ECAM is excited to announce our Stormwater Pollutant Reduction project, generously supported by Maroondah Council.
This is a part of our broader River to Reef vision – a goal to help restore habitat within Port Phillip Bay. Our local rivers and creeks feed into the Bay, so reducing pollutant flow into these waterways plays an important role in keeping our bay clean.
At a local level, waterways have been adversely affected by our activities post colonial settlement, used in some cases as drains for domestic and industrial waste. Modification of our landscape has resulted in more impervious surfaces such as roofs, roadways and driveways, in conjunction with large-scale clearing of native vegetation, reducing water uptake and destabilising river and creek banks.
The resultant higher stormwater flows carry a wide range of pollutants into our waterways, ranging from pet droppings, litter, garden fertilisers, domestic chemicals, contaminated sediment and even leaves and grass clippings that can deplete dissolved oxygen as they decompose in waterways.
We will be engaging with the local community on a number of opportunities to reduce the ingress of pollutants into our waterways via stormwater – reducing the incidence of litter and other pollutants, and reducing stormwater flow, particularly the “first flush” of stormwater that has the highest pollutant concentration.
ECAM will be highlighting examples of stormwater management from some of our members as well as resources such as how to create your own rain garden or bioswale, how to integrate these with rainwater tanks and local nurseries specialising in suitable native plants for our region.
As always, we welcome your own stories of how you have implemented stormwater reduction strategies at your own place!