Getting people interested in storm water is draining. Several communities in the Bangor area have teamed up to educate people about storm water and the pollution it carries to rivers, lakes and oceans to get homeowners and others to think of the consequences before using pesticides on their lawn, not repairing leaky septic systems or taking other actions that contribute to ground water pollution. Their efforts won the 2006 New England Merit Environmental Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Rubber ducks are the centerpiece of the ThinkBlueMaine campaign. Perhaps you saw them at the Folk Festival, the Bangor Garden Show or on television. If lots of rubber ducks were floating in rivers and the ocean, everyone would ask where they come from. Ground water, however, is largely invisible so people don’t see it, and the pollutants it carries, flowing in the Penobscot River or the Atlantic Ocean.

At a booth at the Folk Festival, ducks labeled as pet waste, oil from a car in a driveway, pesticides on the lawn float away from a house and into a river. The point is that all the things the ducks represent do pollute rivers, streams and the ocean. Up to 70 percent of the rain that falls on residential property leaves, taking with it pesticides, bacteria and other pollutants that can kill aquatic life, cause beach closures and lead to a decline in shorefront property values. It can also contaminate drinking water.

Small steps can reduce ground water pollution, the largest source of water quality problems in the United States. Spot treating pest problems rather than blanketing the lawn with pesticides will reduce runoff of these chemicals. Planting flowerbeds or grassy strips to catch rain from rooftops or paved areas helps filter storm water. Maintaining septic systems to prevent leaks and washing cars where the soapy water can flow into a grassy area are other suggestions.

The ThinkBlueMaine partnership includes 28 municipalities, including several in the Bangor area, as well as the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, State Planning Office and soil and water conservation districts. The group has also painted ducks at storm drains to encourage

people to think about what goes down these drains and where it ends up.

Locally, the Bangor Area Storm Water Group, which includes Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Milford, Old Town, Orono, Veazie, the Maine Air National Guard, the University of Maine and University of Maine at Augusta Bangor campus, is promoting the ThinkBlueMaine efforts. It has also organized stream cleanups, is developing model permits that each municipality can use rather than developing their own and has train municipal staff on storm water management.

For more information go to www.thinkbluemaine.org.