COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The Stormwater Management (SWM) Division is involved in a variety of community projects and outreach efforts that promote clean water strategies in the county. Some of these efforts are described below.

Greenfest 2010

The Stormwater Management Division continues its presence in educating residents on storm water and has an annual presence at Greenfest, Howard County's celebration of Earth Day. Our presentation table this year was centered around HomeScape, our new model that allows a homeowner to visualize the impact their home activities have on the environment around them. The model allows us to educate residents about subjects such as lawn care, car washing on driveways, composting, pet cleanup, tree plantings, and other activities that can have adverse effects on the environment.

Enviroscape and Homescape

Enviroscape and Homescape are two educational tools used by the Howard County Storm Water Management staff to provide environmental education for adults. These tools are used to provide a bird's eye view of the impact that adult homeowner activities have on the environment. If you are a homeowner's organization that is interested in seeing an environmental education presentation, please call our office at 410.313.6444 to set up an appointment.

Community Outreach

Howard County encourages residents to care for their property in an environmentally friendly way. We encourage proper lawn fertilization and herbicide / pesticide application techniques, use of native plants for landscaping and replacement of lawn areas, and maintenance of stream buffers.

• If you are a community group, individual, or teaching institution that would like to start a water quality improvement project, or if you would like a speaker to talk on these topics at your next community meeting, please contact the Stormwater Management Division at (410) 313-6586.