North Coast Stormwater Coalition
Welcome to the North Coast Stormwater Coalition website. Formed in 2004, the Coalition is a partnership of the City of Eureka, City of Arcata, City of Fortuna, County of Humboldt, Redwood Community Action Agency, California Coastal Commission, Caltrans, and Humboldt Baykeeper.
The primary goal of the North Coast Stormwater Coalition is to reduce stormwater pollution in local streams, rivers, Humboldt Bay and the ocean through public education and outreach, coordinating pollution prevention efforts and implementing pollution control measures.
Events
What is Stormwater Pollution?
All of us know that water pollution can originate from sources such as an industrial discharge or a sewage treatment plant. In years past, these discharges were the main sources of water pollution, and much has been done to clean up these "point sources" of pollution.
What many people don't realize, however, is that these days, "nonpoint source" pollution—which originates from many diffuse sources all over our watershed—is the main cause of water pollution in our coastal waters. One of the major contributors to nonpoint source pollution is stormwater runoff—water that runs off our yards, streets, parking lots, and buildings.
Water from storms (and from outdoor activities such as watering your yard) picks up sediments and contaminants as it runs off the streets and landscape. This polluted runoff —also called "stormwater pollution"—is channeled into the storm drain system that empties directly into our creeks and sloughs, which flow to Humboldt Bay and the ocean. Storm drains are separate from our sewer systems, so stormwater flows into our coastal waterways UNTREATED!
Stormwater runoff would be very expensive to treat. Treatment facilities would have to be very large to treat peak storm flows, and the facilities would sit unused for long periods of time. The best way to improve stormwater quality is to start at the source—don't let runoff get polluted in the first place.
