Stacie Minson, KSU Watershed Specialist
Big Creek Middle Smoky Hill River Watersheds

Working with urban homeowners in teaching and educating on water quality issues is important to protect Big Creek and local water supplies.

The average homeowner is mostly unaware that their daily habits affect water quality. In most people’s minds, they pay a monthly utility bill to insure a clean, safe water supply while also paying the bill to take care of their waste water.

The problem lies with all of the water used outside their homes to water their lawns, gardens, and landscapes, wash cars, wash down driveways, wash down pet pens, etc. All of these non-point pollution sources create water quality issues.

To engage homeowners to learn about water quality, the Roll Out the Rain Barrel project was started in 2009 in partnership with the City of Hays, Coca-Cola Enterprise, Inc., Ellis and Ellsworth County Conservation Districts, Dr. Jean Gleischner, Fort Hays State University Agriculture Department, Ellis County K-State Research & Extension, KSU Agricultural Research Center and Ellis County Master Gardeners.

The 2015 Roll Out the Rain Barrel Workshop will be in Hays on Thursday, April 9.

Homeowners are given the opportunity to conserve water to use in the landscape because of drought conditions but ultimately are protecting local water supplies. The Roll Out the Rain Barrel workshops have been successful and built upon one another to generate more interest in harvesting rain water for the home landscape and protecting local water quality.

Using data from the WRAPS project and Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) database, reduction loads were estimated. Theoretically estimated load reduction for total gallons collected – 5,280 barrels @55 gallons = 290,400 gallons/event. From WRAPS data, mean total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids were calculated from storm flow concentrations for the 290,400 gallons/event collected.

Using the best management practice of stopping water before reaching the stream, thereby eliminating the vessel of transportation for pollutants during each storm event, pollutants were reduced: total nitrogen (less 4 pounds (lbs)), total phosphorus (less 1 pound (lbs)), and total suspended solids (less 680 pound (lbs)).

Using a conservative number of 15 storm events of at least 0.25 inches precipitation during the harvesting season (March 1 through October 1) loads could be reduced by 60 lbs of TN, 15 lbs of TP, and 4,080 lbs of TSS respectively annually.

These may not seem like large numbers in improving water quality but are small steps towards protection efforts from urban residents and an easy way for residents to engage in conservation and protection.