The East Lansing City Council's Earth Day work session on Tuesday resulted in the designation of May 4-10 as Water Quality Awareness Week.
The council considered two issues: the effort to stencil, "No Dumping, Drains to River" on the city's storm drains and the inventory of local wetlands. The Department of Public Works & Environmental Services worked to bring the resolutions to the council.
Public works environmental specialist Dave Smith said this idea originated in Lansing and will appear for the first time in East Lansing. Volunteers would paint the message on the city's storm drain Saturday.
"It just shows people that they shouldn't dump things in the drains," Smith said. "We have people who change oil, and whether they know it or not, it runs off into the drains."
East Lansing's storm drains run off into the Looking Glass River as well as the Red Cedar River. Smith said the East Lansing community is very receptive to water quality.
"If you look at the curbside recycling program, there is a 70 percent to 80 percent participation rate on a weekly basis," he said.
"If you look at other communities the number tends to be quite lower. It's a rather important issue to residents and students."
The inventory of local wetlands has also been a matter brought to the council. The state protects wetlands covering more than five acres. A new ordinance would protect smaller areas greater than a quarter of an acre.
Councilmember Bill Sharp said environmental issues are extremely important to the city.
"We've been trying to get the wetlands ordinance for the last six years and we finally have done it," he said. "I'm tickled to death that we've come this far."
Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh agreed, saying the city needs to look at all the issues, including quality of land and quality of water.
"The wetlands and control protections will be bore by the developers, not the taxpayer," he said.
Department of Public Works Director Todd Sneathen said the entire objective of the ordinance is to protect the wetlands.
"Planning is another requirement to evaluate the wetlands," he said. "It's going to take some expertise from both sides."
