Get Involved
People interested in checking out a storm drain stenciling kit can contact the county’s Clean Water Program at 360-397-2121.
When Clark County Undersheriff Mike Cooke patrolled a Salmon Creek neighborhood earlier this week, he wasn’t looking for criminal activity.
Instead, Cooke and his daughter Kati stopped when they found a storm drain. The two hopped out of a van, grabbed a small bin and went to work. Out came two orange cones, a stencil and a can of white spray paint.
The end result: a message next to the drain that read “DUMP NO WASTE — DRAINS TO STREAM” around the image of a fish.
The Cookes are among the residents who have checked out a stenciling kit from the county, part of the county’s long-standing efforts to keep people from using storm drains as a receptacle for trash or other waste. Kati Cooke, a senior at Skyview High School, took on the project as a way to gain volunteer experience and spread an important message, she said.
In Clark County, whatever ends up in a storm drain ends up in a stream or waterway. That’s because the county’s stormwater system functions differently than some other urban areas. In Portland, for example, both sewer and stormwater pipes route wastewater through treatment plants before returning to waterways. Here, only sewer pipes do.
“People that aren’t used to that — maybe they’ve moved from other places — don’t realize that,” said Don Benton, director of the county’s Environmental Services department. “Throwing it into the storm drain is exactly the same as throwing it into a river.”
Officials have for years stressed that message in various ways. In the past, the county has also installed thousands of 4-inch medallions near storm drains with a similar gist.
The county has prioritized the stencils more recently because they’re more visible and easier to read, Benton said. Offering kits to check out educates the public while involving more people, he said.
Coordinating the stenciling program is Jane Tesner Kleiner of the county’s Environmental Services department. Volunteer kits include stencils, paint, safety vests, traffic cones and other supplies.
“They make it easy,” Mike Cooke said. “Everything you need is right in there.”
There are some safety guidelines, however. The county has asked that volunteers stick to residential streets with speed limits under 25 mph. Busier arterials and highways are off-limits.
The county has two stenciling kits available for checkout at the Clark County Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St. in Vancouver. Officials have long used the painted message for storm drains, but began checking them out to volunteers last summer.
Mike Cooke said he’s heard from several people interested in participating since he and his daughter started stenciling storm drains last week. Nice weather could spur more interest as spring arrives, he said.
Too much demand so far hasn’t been a problem for the program, Benton said, but if necessary, “we would love to need to put together another kit.”
