Watershed Residential Programs
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What you can do to help keep Gresham streams healthy now and in the future.
Watershed
management at home
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A rain garden is landscaping that
absorbs water from your roof or driveway. It's a shallow depression in a yard that collects rainwater and sports a variety of flowers, shrubs and grasses.
Read more about rain gardens in Gresham
The City’s free, fish-friendly car wash kit is available for
your next fundraiser.
At home, washing the car in the driveway sends dirty soap
and pollutants directly to stormdrains and on to local waterways. We recommend
washing the car over a lawn or at a commercial car wash.
Read more about the car wash kit and tips.
The City offers downspout disconnection assistance during
the summer. Disconnecting your downspouts can prevent rainwater run-off
from entering our local streams.
Read more about downspout disconnection assistance.
Draining Pools and Hot Tubs
Pool and hot tub water contains water sanitizing chemicals
that harm fish and wildlife, even if it has been sitting and no longer
contains chlorine. This water may not be discharged to the City’s storm
drains.
Discharge to City sewer system
Chlorinated pool or hot tub water may be discharged to
the City’s sewer system, which drains to the wastewater treatment plant.
- Connections to the sewer must be through a sewer
cleanout, floor drain, toilet, or other approved sewer connection.
- Notifying the City is not required as long as the
discharge rate is less than 25 gallons per minute.
- If the discharge rate is greater than 25 gallons per
minute, the City must be contacted to confirm the sewer system can handle
the additional water flow.
Discharge to a grassy area
Dechlorinated water may be discharged onto grassy or
gravelly areas that infiltrate into the ground ─ so long as the water doesn’t
flow onto neighboring properties, or down driveways or streets into a public
storm drain.
Questions?
Contact Paul
Kramer, Environmental Services, 503-618-2648 or Paul.Kramer@GreshamOregon.gov.
We encourage homeowners and businesses to keep a pesticide-free lawn and garden. It’s easy and helps keep harmful products away from people, pets and our streams.
Go chemical free
- Lawn and garden chemicals can remain on your lawn for days or months and may be harmful to humans and pets.
- Pesticides can kill pollinators and soil microbes critical to healthy gardens.
- Lawn chemicals can collect in storm drains, introducing toxins to rivers and streams, harming fish and aquatic insects.
Find safer chemicals
Go green lawn care
- Mow high and often. Cutting your lawn higher encourages a stronger root system, reducing weeds.
- Use a mulching mower that chops grass and leaves it on the lawn as a natural fertilizer.
- Water when the sun is low (before 10:00 am or after 6:00 pm). Lawns only need an average of one inch of water per week. Get your weekly watering number
- Let your lawn go brown. It’s not dead, just dormant.
- Replace your lawn with drought-tolerant grass and naturescaping.
Resources
Lawn care video
Pet waste carries pathogens such as Giardia, E. Coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter. These bugs cause illness in people, especially children and the elderly.
Gresham's local streams are known to carry harmful levels of bacteria.
You can help by always picking up after your pet when on walks and avoiding children's play areas.
Local scouts or civic groups have volunteered to build and install dog boxes in Gresham. Look for a bag in our dog boxes when you need one and help out by bringing extra bags to leave for others.
Take the pet waste pledge.
Manage your recreational vehicle (RV) waste by using an
approved waste disposal site.
Local disposal sites
- Camping World:24000 NE Sandy Blvd., Wood Village (open 24 hours)
- Traveling
outside Oregon? Visit Sanidumps.com for an online directory
of stations in the U.S. and Canada
Improper disposal
- Never
dispose of RV waste in stormwater drains in streets or parking lots – these
drains carry stormwater directly to local streams.
- If
you witness illegal dumping of RV waste, please
contact the City’s Code Compliance Division,
503-618-2248 or CodeEnforcement@GreshamOregon.gov.
Take the weed and feed pledge.
Receive a Pesticide-Fee Zone sign for your yard. Thank you for helping us reach our 'Skip the Weed and Feed' goal.
Weed and feed is a chemical found in many lawn and garden products. It’s toxic to fish and can be dangerous to children and pets. We have the power to improve public health and our environment by choosing lawn and garden products without weed and feed.
Eco-friendly landscapers