Step 8

Educate your citizens and decision makers.

From the point of your first retrofit—or even before, when citizens ask you why you’re sticking your head down the storm drain—we think you’ll be surprised by the level of interest the project will generate. Our experience is that LID practices like green roofs, rain gardens and porous pavement are interesting to many people, if they are educated on what they’re looking at and why it’s being done.

If possible, consider some educational signage, either temporary or permanent, to briefly explain the “what” and “why” of your retrofit projects. Again, the advantage here is that runoff from pavement and rooftops is something that almost everyone has an inherent understanding of. Use this to your advantage in promoting and generating support for your work to clean up and protect your town’s waterways. Feel free to link to, or use, videos and photos from this site. Good luck! 

Some Education Ideas

• A NEMO Program presentation(s) - Contact Us
• A special town forum on the IC-TMDL
• Signage at project sites
• Info on the town web page (see suggestions below)
• Develop a 1-page flyer on the IC-TMDL
• An article in the town magazine or newsletter
• A press release to the local newspaper and/or news website (like Patch)

Suggested Educational Resources

CT NEMO Program Website Topical information, presentations, and publications.

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection LID Website

Luck Isn’t Enough: The Fight for Clean Water A 12-minute layperson’s explanation of stormwater pollution and why it’s important.

The National LID Atlas (web tool) Use the LID Atlas to visit real world examplels from Connecticut and beyond.

The NEMO Rain Garden smartphone App A FREE app designed to help you properly install a rain garden at your home, office, or job site. Through video tutorials, diagrams, text, and tools, the App guides you through determining the size and placement of your garden, selecting plants, digging and planting your garden, and maintaining your garden.

A 3-minute History and Explanation of the IC-TMDL A narrated Powerpoint presentation reviewing the reasons why IC-TMDLs exist.

An Illustrated Guide to Low Impact Development Picture galleries and video clips describing common LID or “green infrastructure” practices.Visit Step 3 of this website.

Also:  Please feel free to link to any parts of this site, or our Eagleville Brook Project site, that you feel might be appropriate for an education web page.