OconeeWaters Stormwater GeoTrail: “Stormwater Journey”
‘Stormwater Journey’ is a Geotrail created by OconeeWaters which is part of the Upper Oconee Watershed Network (http://www.uown.org) with the cooperation of Oconee County Stormwater and the City of Watkinsville. This GeoTrail highlights topics related to stormwater. The cache is only available during daylight hours. Please no night caching! All park rules apply to geocachers. Avoid any activities you feel are not safe and enjoy.
Stormwater runoff is the number one source of water pollution in the United States. When rain falls on impervious surfaces such as rooftops, roads, sidewalks, parking lots, and driveways or runs down stream banks with sparse vegetation instead of being absorbed by the ground, it flows into storm drains and from there flows directly into nearby streams. In Oconee County, stormwater is not treated before it enters our streams, which means that anything stormwater encounters as it flows along impervious surfaces could end up polluting our streams including: trash, debris, sediment, chemicals, fertilizers, dog waste, soaps, and car oil.
Traditionally, our water infrastructure— such as storm drains and culverts — has treated precipitation as something to dispose of rather than something to protect. This infrastructure channels rainfall and snowmelt into storm drains and pipes, and dumps it into receiving waters, often far from its place of origin. The consequences are the loss of groundwater recharge, reduced base flows in streams, increased flooding, and lower water quality. Instead of channeling stormwater into pipes and drains, other more natural method of water management has benefits for the environment and economy. A detention pond—or dry pond—is an area where excess stormwater is stored or held temporarily and then slowly drains when water levels in the receiving channel recede.