Where Does It Go?
Beckley’s creeks, lakes and rivers all depend upon water to soak into the ground to replenish ground water levels. However, unmanaged runoff can cause problems in urbanized areas. When storm water flows over the ground and other hard surfaces, it picks up pollutants like litter, oil, pet waste and chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides and carries those pollutants to BSB’s storm sewer system, which, instead of leading to a treatment plant, discharges storm water and any pollutants it picks up directly to the nearest creek or river. Because BSB doesn’t treat storm water runoff like we do wastewater, these pollutants impact water quality in the local creeks and rivers we use for drinking water and recreation, threatening public health and harming aquatic life.
Excess storm water runoff can also cause flooding and erosion in developed communities, resulting in expensive and inconvenient property damage.
The Beckley Sanitary Board provides several services to benefit the environment and the residents of Beckley and the surrounding area, one of which is improving the health of our watersheds through effective stormwater management.
What is a Watershed?
A watershed is an area of land that drains rainfall and snowmelt into the body of water it surrounds, such as a creek, river, lake or ocean. Watersheds can be many different shapes and sizes and are not confined by city, state or even national borders. Smaller watersheds that drain to creeks or lakes can be identified inside of larger watersheds that drain to rivers and oceans.
Creeks and rivers don’t start and stop in just one city or town. Because of this, BSB understands that pollution, erosion, flooding and problems such as a clogged or overwhelmed storm pipe in one city can affect other cities and people within the same watershed.
The Beckley Sanitary Board provides several services to benefit the environment and the residents of Beckley and the surrounding area, one of which is improving the health of our watersheds through effective stormwater management.