Approximately two dozen St. Johns River Water Management District Watershed Action Volunteer (WAV) Program volunteers recently donned bright orange vests and plastic gloves to clean out Deland, Fla., storm drains. In the Lake Winnimessett and DeLand Municipal Airport areas, volunteers glued about 100 stickers bearing the message, "No dumping, drains to waterway" to drains.

"Marking storm drains helps to achieve two important objectives: education and pollution prevention," said Will Hobson, WAV volunteer coordinator for Volusia County. "When I first started this job, I was surprised to find out the water wasn't treated before entering the waterways. Items dumped into storm drains include all types of litter and refuse, motor oil and other petroleum products, chemical wastes ... [all of which can] negatively impact water quality."

The volunteers' work coincided with World Water Day, a yearly reminder to protect and preserve water as established by the United Nations in 1992.

The county's environmental management department also was a partner in the volunteer program. Other contributors included the county's storm water utilities department, the city of DeLand and the DeLand Naval Air Station Museum.

Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal