Girls Scouts mark village catch basins for community project
Woodbury. The scouts hoped to highlight the importance of protecting these water runoff sources.
Monroe /
| 28 May 2024 | 04:13
The scouts worked to raise awareness about the importance of catch basins. (
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A sticker on the catch basin informs residents that whatever flows into this end may empty out into a local water source. (
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On May 11, Monroe-Woodbury Girl Scouts marked catch basins in the village of Woodbury in an effort to help protect the area’s water quality. While Troop 15 organized the event to partially fulfill the requirements of their Girl Scout Bronze award, scouts from several troops participated.
Catch basins in the Brigadoon subdivision were marked with badges that say, “Don’t Dump, Drains to Woodbury Creek,” to alert the public that they shouldn’t dump anything into catch basins. Only clean stormwater should enter catch basins since most catch basins discharge directly to a waterbody via a network of storm sewer pipes.
A troop representative noted that anything that goes into a catch basin will eventually reach a waterbody. This includes soap from vehicle washing, oil and grease from cars, pesticides from lawns, litter, and pet waste. Stormwater runoff picks up these pollutants as it makes its way to a catch basin and will then reach a stream, river, lake or ocean. The troop highlighted the importance of cleaning up any spills and litter, washing vehicles on the grass, cleaning up after your pets, and only using pesticides “if absolutely necessary.”
For more information about protecting stormwater runoff, go to epa.gov/soakuptherain.