Newsletter Articles

The Rouge Project has provided examples of articles that can be used to inform the public on actions they can take to protect the Rouge River. Contact information can be inserted where indicated on each article. The types of articles are listed below.

Citizens Have The Power
Healthy Lawns and Gardens = Healthy Water
Landscape for a Healthy Environment
Keep It On The Land
Keep Waste Out Of The River
Is Your Home Hazardous?
Caring For Your Car And The Environment
Do Your Downspouts Lead to the Rouge?
Is Your Home Improvement Project Rouge River Friendly?
Water Conservation = A Healthy Watershed
Does My Septic System affect the Rouge River?
What Else Can We Do To Restore The Rouge River?

Citizens Have The Power

• Lawn Care - Keep fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides off paved surfaces and out of drainage paths. When choosing a fertilizer, select a slow release formula. Fertilize in September or October to promote root growth rather than top growth.
• Automobile Maintenance - Direct polluted wash water away from streets and storm drains. Instead of washing your car in the driveway or street, wash your car on your lawn or better - go to a car wash.
• Animal Waste - Clean up animal waste before it washes into the storm drain. You can throw it in the trash, preventing bacteria from entering the Rouge.
• Home Care - Disconnect downspouts from sewer systems and direct them to vegetated areas away from building foundations. When cleaning up spills and leaks do not use your hose as a broom.
• Toxic Materials - Properly dispose of household hazardous waste and call your local community to find out if they have a collection day. An even better solution is to use nontoxic alternatives whenever possible.
• Get Involved - Citizens can also join Friends of the Rouge and/or participate in Rouge River Watch, storm drain stenciling, or other Rouge Friendly Neighborhood activities. Call (313) 7929900 for information.

These voluntary actions will prevent pollutants from entering the Rouge River. Making these small changes in individual and household behaviors will make a big improvement in the water quality of the Rouge.

Healthy Lawns and Gardens = Healthy Water

Citizens can help prevent pollution in the Rouge River by participating in healthy lawn and garden practices. For instance, when soils and plants are healthy they naturally resist disease and pests - allowing gardeners and homeowners to reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Healthy lawn and garden practices save homeowners time and effort and promote a beautiful landscape.

There are four simple principles that individuals and homeowners can follow for a healthy lawn and garden. These principles include:

1. Build fertile soils with organic matter such as compost or mulch. Use mulch (shredded leaves, grass clippings or compost) around plants and on the soil to resist weeds and retain moisture.
2. Select plants suited for the site and climate conditions.
3. Mow your grass at a high setting and let the short grass blades fall back onto the lawn.
4. Select a slow release fertilizer to promote steady, uniform growth.
5. Mix grass clippings with leaves and soil to make a backyard compost pile.
6. Reduce the use of insecticides, herbicides and other pesticides on your lawn or in your garden.
   

If you follow these simple principles you not only will have a healthy yard and garden, but you will also help prevent pollution in the Rouge River. All of our actions affect the river, so do your part to help prevent pollution.

Landscape for a Healthy Environment

The way in which home landscapes are designed and maintained directly affects runoff and Rouge River water quality. Runoff results from rainstorms, snowmelts, and lawn and garden watering practices. Some of the pollutants that can enter the river through runoff include fertilizer, pesticides, soil eroding from bare areas, pet wastes, and oil or grease that may have leaked or spilled onto the ground.

Landscapes can be designed to avoid these pollution problems. Some of these steps to avoid pollution in the Rouge River include:

1. Designing landscapes to retain water onsite will encourage infiltration and even treat some pollutants through small ponds and wetlands.
2. Selecting low maintenance trees, shrubs, and ground covers with water quality in mind will prevent pollution. This occurs simply by the reduction in the amount of chemical use, such as pesticides and fertilizers, as well as reducing water requirements.
3. Reducing the amount of paved surfaces can reduce the volume and velocity of runoff, decreasing the amount of pollutants entering the river.
4. Creating buffer zones of vegetation provides a greater opportunity for plants to slow and filter storm water.

Keep It On The Land

Erosion - the wearing away of soil from wind or water -   is often a concern on construction sites, but did you know it's also a concern in our own backyard?

Why be concerned about erosion?
When erosion occurs your backyard suffers because much of the good soil is lost. But it's not only your backyard, the Rouge River suffers as well. When eroded soil enters the River it causes the river to turn muddy. Not only is this ugly to look at, but it's caused all kinds of problems to the animals living in the water.

You Can Help
You can help prevent erosion in your backyard by following these tips:

1. Place gravel or hardy vegetation under roof eaves to reduce the amount of sediments picked up by downspout runoff.
2. Add downspout attachments to slow and spread draining water.
3. When landscaping or remodeling you can reduce erosion by covering small mounds of dirt with a tarp so that wind and rain don't carry these sediments to nearby water bodies like the Rouge River.
4. Limit the extent and duration of land disturbance and protect surfaces once they are exposed.
5. On exposed soil, by using mulches, such as straw or other plant residue, gravel or synthetic material you can create a protective blanket to reduce erosion. When applied to the soil surface, these mulches will minimize runoff, encourage vegetative growth, reduce evaporation, insulate the soil and suppress weed growth and provides immediate protection from erosion.
6. Plant rapid-growing annual grasses or small grains. These can be used as temporary stabilization for erosion control on disturbed soils. This practice can be used on areas that will not be finished for more than one month.
   

Separately or combined, these erosion control measures can greatly reduce sediments entering the Rouge River.

Keep Waste Out Of The River

Cleaning up after your pet is another way to help protect the Rouge River. Pet waste left on sidewalks, streets or yards contains numerous pollutants such as nutrients and bacteria. These pollutants can easily be washed into nearby storm drains and remember these storm drains dump directly to the River. Discard your pet's waste by double wrapping it in a plastic bag and throwing it in the garbage.

When washing your pet, do it either in the house in a laundry tub or outside in a washtub on the lawn. If you wash your pet outside, dump the wash water on the lawn when you are finished. These practices prevent polluted water from entering the storm drain. You can also help the environment by choosing a pet shampoo low in phosphorus.

Also, use nontoxic alternatives to flea powders and shampoos if possible. If you use a flea collar, dispose of it properly at a household hazardous waste collection site.

Lastly, don't feed the ducks and geese. Feeding these waterfowl is not healthy for them or the River. Like pet waste, waterfowl waste contributes nutrient and bacteria pollution to the Rouge River.

All of these practices can help to reduce and prevent pollution that enters the Rouge River, which will help to restore and protect the river.

Is Your Home Hazardous?

Many of the products we use in our homes everyday are hazardous. If they are disposed of improperly, these products can make their way to the Rouge River and harm surrounding plants and animals.

A product is considered hazardous if it is: toxic - poisonous or capable of causing acute illness; flammable - ignitable and burns easily; corrosive - eats through other materials; or reactive - can possibly explode or react with other chemicals. Always check the label to see if a product is hazardous. A product may be hazardous if the label has a picture of a skull and cross bones or, if it contains the words WARNING, CAUTION, DANGER, or POISON.    

There are many things individuals can do to reduce household hazardous waste pollution.

1. Keep unused portions in their original containers with labels intact and readable and store hazardous materials in a cool, dry place inaccessible to children and pets.
2. Reduce your waste and save money by purchasing only materials you need and will use.
3. Use products in accordance with the manufacturer's directions and follow all safe handling requirements.
4. Offer surplus portions of products that are useable and safely packaged to others, such as pesticides to nurseries, and paint to theater groups.
5. Reduce the amount of hazardous wastes you purchase by using nontoxic alternatives when you can.
6. It is very important to follow proper disposal measures for household hazardous waste. These wastes should be recycled or taken to a household hazardous waste drop off site.

For more information regarding household hazardous waste collection and disposal, please contact <insert phone number>.

Caring For Your Car And The Environment

Car care and maintenance is very important when trying to protect the environment, in particular, the Rouge River. Many vehicle fluids can be hazardous. This would include any fluid normally used in a vehicle such as engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, hydraulic fluids and radiator fluid. Even in small quantities they can contaminant water supplies and harm fish and other aquatic life.

It doesn't take much oil to seriously damage the environment. Oil can enter the Rouge River when someone dumps it directly into the river, into a nearby storm drain, or on the pavement. Whatever is dumped into storm drains can end up in the Rouge River.

Since more than 25% of all car owners change their own oil, it is important for them to dispose of it properly. If you change your oil put the used oil in a sturdy container, label it and take it to a local oil recycling location.

Antifreeze is also dangerous to the environment, it contains ingredients that are poisonous to people, fish and wildlife and should be treated in the same manner as waste oil.

In the case of a spill with any of these types of materials, use kitty litter, sawdust or cornmeal to absorb the spill and sweep up absorbents after a few hours. If it is a large spill (over 1 gallon of absorbent) take the material to a household hazardous waste disposal center or collection day. If it is a small spill, place the used absorbents in a strong plastic bag and place it in the trash. For more information regarding collection centers contact <insert phone number>.

Do Your Downspouts Lead to the Rouge?

Flooding. It has become an increasingly larger issue for the community to deal with. However, there are steps residents can take that will not only reduce flooding, but also reduce the water needed for landscaping.

One of the most important things you can do is make sure your downspout is not connected to the sewer system. Downspouts carry storm water away from your house. The problem occurs when the downspout is directly connected to the sewer system and all the storm water flows directly into the River. This contributes to flooding, eroding riverbanks and degraded fish and wildlife habitat.

A correct roof drainage system should include:

• Gutters on the bottom edges of your roof.
• Disconnecting downspouts that hook directly to the sewer system.
• Adding a downspout extension that drains water away from your house.
• Adding grading that provides a gradual slope away from the house.

If you would like additional information about disconnecting your downspouts, please contact (name and phone number).

Is Your Home Improvement Project Rouge River Friendly?

What a rewarding feeling it is to complete your own home improvement project! But did you know certain practices could contribute to water quality problems in the Rouge River if special care isn't taken? If not maintained and disposed of properly, certain materials like paint and driveway sealant can negatively affect the river. This includes the plants and animals that live in the river and around it. Remember, where pollution is concerned, every home in the Rouge River Watershed is waterfront property!

Paint use, paint removal, driveway/walkway or patio installation and repair are some activities you can participate in using environmentally friendly techniques. The following suggestions will help you decrease the amount of pollution coming from your neighborhood.

Painting Do's & Don'ts            
Paints, thinners, solvents, rags and brushes should never end up in a river or lake. These materials contain chemicals that can harm aquatic animals and other wildlife and degrade water quality.

• Choose water based paints over oil-based paints. They are less toxic.
• Don't use paints over 15 years old they may contain toxic levels of lead.
• Excess paint, thinners, solvents, empty aerosol cans, lead paint chips and chemical paint stripping residue, including saturated rags, are considered hazardous waste and should be taken to a household hazardous waste site.
• Reuse paint thinner or cleaning solvents. Set aside in a closed jar to settle out paint particles, and then pour off clear liquid for future use.
• Save unused paint or donate it to an organization.

Driveway or Patio Repair/Installation
Remember, anything that enters a storm drain directly discharges into the Rouge River. DON'T use your hose as a broom!

• Never wash excess material from bricklaying or patio/driveway construction into a storm drain. Also, don't hose down driveways, sidewalks, or streets into storm drains.
• Collect and reuse excess sand and gravel.
• Set up and operate small mixers on heavy tarps or drop cloths.
• Apply driveway sealants when no rain is forecast. Sweep first to prepare and carefully follow the directions.
• Try to minimize the use of impervious surfaces, and slope such surfaces toward vegetated areas. Impervious surfaces are those surfaces that don't allow water to infiltrate into the soil, such as concrete used for driveways and patios. This increases the volume and velocity of surface runoff. Examples of more porous surfaces are gravel, bricks and flagstones, which encourage some infiltration of runoff.

Water Conservation = A Healthy Watershed

All the people who live and work in the Rouge River Watershed have the potential to pollute the river, or help restore its health. The watershed is all of the land area and surface & underground waterways that drain into the Rouge River.

Industry used to be a large polluter, but today it causes only a small amount of pollution to the river. In fact, all of us are major polluters to our lakes, streams, and rivers.

Residents can take voluntary actions to help prevent further pollution in the Rouge River Watershed. One way to do this is through water conservation. Water conservation is a good practice and will help the Rouge. Conserving water outside, and controlling where it goes, is really important. Storm drains flow directly to the Rouge River, so whatever goes down the drain, goes in the river. This is especially essential after a rainstorm or snowmelt. The stream flow is very high at this time and the chance of flooding is greatly increased.

Here are some tips to help with water conservation:

• Using an automatic sprinkler system to water a couple of thirsty plants wastes a lot of water. Hand water them or install a drip system available at home improvement stores. You can also collect rainwater, in a bucket for example, to water your plants.
• Doesn't it seem like the sprinkler always waters the street and driveway too? Try to aim your sprinkler heads just right to avoid watering these impervious surfaces.
• Try not to over water your lawn. Grass roots are short and can't use the excess water. Light, frequent watering also reduces stress to the grass, which reduces the potential for disease and insect damage. It also keeps beneficial microorganisms active on the soil surface.
• If possible, keep your automatic sprinkler system from turning on while it is raining.
• Don't water your lawn for a couple days after it rains.

Small changes in how you use your water can affect the quality of the Rouge River, and keep the river flowing for generations to come!

Does My Septic System affect the Rouge River?

Does your household use a septic system for wastewater treatment? If so, it has the potential to negatively affect water quality in the Rouge River Watershed if not maintained properly. The Rouge River Watershed is all the land area and waterways that drain into the Rouge River. So if you're septic system isn't correctly located, adequately designed, carefully installed and properly managed, it may be contributing to pollution in the Rouge River - which affects everybody!

Septic systems are wastewater treatment systems that use septic tanks and drain fields to dispose of sewage in the soil. The tank receives untreated household waste, bacteria break down the solid material and the drain field distributes the remaining liquid from the septic tank to the surrounding soil. The soil then acts as the final filter for wastewater treatment. A septic system failure can cause serious problems including sewage backup, human and animal illness, contaminated water supplies, and costly repair bills!

There are many ways individuals and households can help keep their septic systems operating properly and also be environmentally sensitive. Here are some suggestions:

• Commercial septic tank additives usually don't help and may hurt your system in the long run.
• The drain field should only be covered with grass, don't plant trees or shrubs. Their roots are too long. Keep the grass cut to around 23 inches. The cut grass helps remove nutrients from the field and increases evaporation.
• Keep kitchen garbage disposal use at a minimum, and don't put hazardous chemicals down the drain.
• NEVER use your toilet like a trash can! Coffee grinds, kitty litter, paper towels, tampons, dental floss, cigarette butts, pesticides, paints, oils, etc, can overtax or destroy the beneficial bacteria in your system, and pollute the water.
• Toxic gases are produced in the tank and are very dangerous, so don't ever go down into the tank. Even lifting the lid to look in can be dangerous.
• Learn the location and keep a maintenance record of your septic tank & drain field.
• If you are having problems, such as sewage backup, slow drains, unpleasant odors, or visible liquid on the ground by the system, immediately contact your county health department.

Making small changes in household behaviors can make a difference & help restore the quality of the Rouge River !

For more information on septic system maintenance, contact <name, number>.

What Else Can We Do To Restore The Rouge River?

In addition to the voluntary actions we can take at home, such as conserving water and reducing toxic chemical use, there are also activities you can participate in through community involvement. The first step is to spread the word, to your neighbors, to friends at school, or people you work with. If more people understand what impact everyday actions have on water quality in the Rouge River, then maybe more people will want to help make it healthy again.

Become active in your community! Here are some suggestions on how your community can become involved in the restoration process:

• Erosion from construction sites and new development is a major source of pollution to the Rouge. Citizens can help prevent this type of pollution. If you notice large amounts of erosion from a site, contact <insert number>.
• Household Hazardous Waste Encourage your neighbors to reduce, reuse and recycle. Brochures and other information on household hazardous wastes can be obtained from <insert number>
• Car Care Encourage local service stations to accept used motor oil and antifreeze from area residents.

Join an organization!
Friends of the Rouge - is a grassroots organization with more than 800 members dedicated to restoring the Rouge River. They participate in a variety of special community projects and an annual Rouge Rescue Cleanup, which has removed tons of natural and manmade debris from the river. They also sponsor an education program to teach students about water quality sampling and the importance of the river.

Rouge RAP Advisory Council - represents all parties interested in the Rouge River Remedial Action Plan (RAP), the long term clean up plan for the river. Citizens & students are included in RRAC's membership, and anyone may participate in its meetings or subcommittees.

For More Information:
Friends of the Rouge Jim Graham, Executive Director, (313) 792-9900.

    RRAC Cathy Bean, Rouge RAP Coordinator, (313) 953-1441.

Please address all comments and suggestions about the contents of this Web page to rougeweb@co.wayne.mi.us.

The Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project is funded, in part, by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Grants #XP995743-01, -02, -03, -04, -05, -06, -08 and C-264000-01.