Keeping our desert waterways clean starts with you. Every year, during the monsoon season, it is easy for stormwater runoff to pick up pollutants, such as grease, fertilizer, pesticide and trash, along the way and to deposit the contaminants in our fragile desert washes.

Pima Association of Governments’ Stormwater Management Working Group annually conducts a multi-media outreach campaign in an effort to help the public understand the importance of keeping stormwater free of contaminants.

• Keep your vehicle leak free

  Check your parking area regularly for drips and stains, and take your vehicle in for regular maintenance to ensure that it will not leak. This will not only reduce stormwater pollution, but it will increase the life of your vehicle. If you notice a leak, have it fixed immediately and clean up any drips or spills. Our streets are our stormwater conveyance system in Tucson, so everything on them gets picked up and eventually deposited in the natural water courses.

• Properly dispose of oil and automotive fluids

  Dispose of automotive wastes at Tucson/Pima County Household Hazardous Waste (HHW). A common misconception is that fluids dumped down the storm drain will get treated with wastewater. This is not true in Tucson; storm drains lead directly to washes.

• Use commercial car washes

  When you wash your car in a driveway, dirty water and soap end up in storm drains and then desert washes. Commercial car washes collect dirty water and send it to wastewater treatment facilities, which remove hazardous chemicals and then reclaim the water for turf.

• Use alternative transportation

  Biking, walking, carpooling, or riding the bus reduces vehicle use and will reduce pollution at the source.  Sun Rideshare and Sun Tran are great transportation alternatives.

• Properly dispose of household hazardous waste

  Dispose of household hazardous wastes at Tucson/Pima County Household Hazardous Waste (HHW). Hazardous chemicals that are poured on the ground or into stormdrains can be carried into washes by stormwater runoff.

• Buy non-toxic products

  Check product labels on your herbicides and pesticides. “Non-toxic” products often work just as well as their toxic counterparts and do not have as negative an impact on the environment. For information about household chemicals, see EPA's Web site on non-point source pollution.

• Use and store yard chemicals safely

  Yard chemicals, such as pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers should be used sparingly. Always follow product instructions, and never apply these chemicals during rain or immediately before a storm. Keep chemicals sealed and stored away from rainwater so they will not be leached into the environment.

• Compost or properly dispose of landscape waste

  Composting is an environmentally friendly method of managing green waste. For more information, visit the Tucson Organic Gardens' Home Composting Guide (PDF). If you do not wish to or are not able to compost, many landfills and trash collection companies accept yard waste. Contact local waste management for more information. Yard debris dumped into washes can cause flooding and buildup of stagnant pools.

• Don’t litter

  Throw your own trash into the garbage and help pick up litter in your neighborhood. Be a good example and don’t be a litter bug.

• Pick up after your pets

  Pick up where your dog left off. Recent studies show that bacteria are a leading concern in Tucson’s stormwater, and the source of the majority of those bacteria…our dogs!! Pick up where your dog left off. Scoop the poop!

• Practice good horse keeping

  When not managed properly, horse manure can pollute the environment as ground or surface water pollution, affect the health of horses and caretakers, promote unwanted insect breeding, and become a nuisance to neighbors by generating excessive odors and flies. For more info click here.

• Harvest rainwater

  By contouring your yard to capture rain where it falls, you can reduce erosion and the spread of yard chemicals or other mobile pollutants. It also helps slow runoff so that peak flood flows are reduced and water is conserved since more water can seep into your plants’ root zone.

  Vegetation (including trees, shrubs and grasses) planted in or near your rainwater harvesting basins captures sediments and pesticides in runoff, as well as large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are pollutants to waterways. Vegetation additionally helps stormwater runoff travel slowly and store water in soils. The deep root systems of trees and shrubs absorb stormwater and stabilize soil to reduce erosion. Try water harvesting(PDF) at your home

• Keep company vehicles and parking lots free of leaking fluids

  Make sure that company vehicles are not leaking oil or automotive fluids. If you notice a spill in your parking lot, cover with kitty litter for one to two days, or until all liquid is absorbed. Collect the kitty litter in a bag and dispose of it at a hazardous waste facility. Do not dispose of the chemicals in the trash.

• Do not clean equipment outside near stormdrains

  Clean all equipment over a drain which leads to the sanitary sewer. If equipment is washed outside, soap, oil and other hazardous chemicals can flow into stormdrains which are directed to our desert washes.

• Store chemicals appropriately

  Make sure all chemicals are stored in appropriate containers so they will not leak. Store these containers in an area sheltered from rainfall.

• Use landscape chemicals sparingly

  Only apply fertilizers and pesticides as directed, and avoid using them three days before rain is forecasted.

• Harvest rainwater

  In 2010, a Commercial Rainwater Harvesting Ordinance took effect in Tucson and a new Landscape Code took effect in Oro Valley. Both aim to reduce landscape water use in new commercial developments by 50 percent. While the Tucson ordinance requires rainwater harvesting to account for the entire 50 percent, the Oro Valley code requires rainwater harvesting in combination with other water saving measures, such as the use of approved drought-tolerant plants, to account for the water savings. Rainwater harvesting is also a best management practice that helps development sites comply with state AZPDES (Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) requirements.
  
  Even if your property was developed before the ordinance took effect, you can still benefit from rainwater harvesting. Earthworks are easy and inexpensive to install, and they will reduce your water bill during rainy seasons. You also can capture and store rainwater in cisterns. Cisterns are more expensive to install, but captured rainwater also can be used indoors for non-potable uses, such as flushing toilets.

• Pick up trash on your property

  Be a good example for other businesses and pick up any trash you find on your property.

• Keep dumpsters closed and leak free

  On windy days, trash can blow out of open trash containers. Rain can also turn dumpsters into a disgusting garbage soup. By closing dumpster lids, you can keep stormwater clean and avoid a nasty mess.

• Recycle

  Be sure to recycle as much as possible. The less you throw in the trash, the less likely waste materials will make it into stormdrains and washes. Even cooking grease can be recycled to produce valuable biodiesel. 

• Follow stormwater protocols at construction sites

  Click here to learn how the construction industry can help prevent stormwater pollution.