DDOE Stormwater Activities

• Administration of the District's NPDES Permit:
  DDOE manages the District's NPDES Permit, dated 2004, for its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4). 2/3 of the District is in the MS4 area. The remaining of the District is in the combined sewer overflow (CSO) area. The NPDES permit controls the District's ability to legally discharge from its storm water system and establishes both substantive and procedural requirements.
• Low Impact Development Activities:
  DDOE promotes the use of low impact development / environmentally sensitive design techniques to control stormwater runoff and reduce non-point source pollution by providing technical and financial assistance.
• Hickey Run Activities:
  Hickey Run is a small tributary to the Anacostia River. DDOE monitors a representative outfall in the Hickey Run watershed as part of the storm water monitoring program at Hickey Run MS4 site located at 33rd and V Street, NE. Monitoring of Hickey Run is conducted on a rotating basis in the same year as the Anacostia watershed monitoring stations. In addition to monitoring for oil and grease, the Permit stipulates that ambient water quality monitoring of Hickey Run should continue at its current location. The watershed has been monitored as part of the Anacostia watershed rotation, has one or more BMPs in the design stage, and has been subject to an extensive educational awareness campaign under the EE-CARS* program.
• Pesticide and Fertilizer Application Activities:
  DDOE manages the District's Pesticide Management Program provides licenses to commercial applicators. The license program educates commercial applicators on the proper use, storage, and disposal of pesticides. The program also provides educational materials to District citizens that address proper lawn care, fertilizer use, and alternative ways to reduce pests without the use of commercial pesticides.
• Watershed Protection Activities:
  Restore District neighborhood streams and surrounding habitat degraded from high stream flows the result of increased development and imperviousness in the watershed to improve water quality and increase biodiversity. For more information go to the Watershed Protection Division webpage
• Public Education and Outreach Activities:
  A variety of activities that target teachers, environmental educators, and students throughout the District are conducted year round. Activities include: Environmental Education Resource Center, Conservation Education (Project Learning Tree, Project WET, Project WILD, Teacher Training Workshops, Pollution Prevention (P2), and Schoolyard Habitats Program.
• Construction Site Operators:
  DDOE distributes videos to construction mangers in the District providing guidance for the proper maintenance of water quality structures, such as sand filters (and others), a common BMP used on construction sites in the District.
• Wet-Weather Screening monitoring activities:
  DDOE monitors the water quality in the District's watersheds, including nine sites in the Anacostia, seven sites in the Potomac River, and six sites in Rock Creek. A suite of pollutants are monitored throughout the year including metals, nutrients, pesticides, and organics. These data provide a more accurate way of determining how well the combined stormwater activities are working.