S5.C.11 Education and Outreach Program

Summary of Program Components

Public education and outreach is a vital component of the SWMP.  Stormwater pollution is the result of ongoing activities of residents and businesses.  Therefore, focusing public education efforts on activities and practices that residents and businesses can do to help reduce stormwater impacts to surface water quality are important.  As people learn how their activities affect surface water quality, some will quickly change their behavior.  Others will benefit from continuous educational opportunities and incentives.

The City has recently started to increase focus on more equitable education and outreach programming to serve a more diverse audience and overburdened communities as defined in the Permit.  The City translated educational materials into Tacoma’s five primarily used languages other than English – which are Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean and Khmer.  The City is utilizing an equity index map to identify overburdened neighborhoods to better inform public outreach and program development.

The City has various active environmental education and outreach programs and activities described in the following sections.  Most of the City’s surface water and stormwater education efforts are implemented by the following groups:

ES/Environmental Programs Group

Environmental Programs Group staff is responsible to coordinate all permit-mandated education and outreach.  Staff coordinates with departments and divisions throughout the City.  Staff develop messages, create outreach materials, and train other staff regarding outreach messages, plan events, and conduct outreach opportunities. 

ES/Environmental Compliance Section

Environmental Compliance Inspectors provide education about BMPs to businesses during regular business inspections, stormwater facility maintenance inspections, and spills and complaints responses.  Outreach audiences include commercial and industrial businesses, home-based and mobile businesses, landscapers, and property managers, among others.

ES/Solid Waste Management Division

Staff assists with education related to the storage and disposal of hazardous waste, education related to natural yard care, yard waste disposal and dumpster practices and maintenance, and hosts the EnviroHouse, located at the Tacoma Recovery and Transfer Center, which demonstrates sustainable building and natural landscape techniques.

City Media and Communications Office

Staff provides strategic marketing and communications support to all ES utilities (surface water, wastewater, and solid waste).  Staff advises and supports the ES/Environmental Programs Group and ES/Environmental Compliance Section on public relations and media relations opportunities.  Staff manage relevant social media outreach efforts and other duties as assigned.

Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability (OEPS)

The EnviroChallenger environmental education program delivers free lessons to elementary and middle schools, home school groups and represents ES at community events.  Lessons and event activities include stormwater, wastewater, and solid waste topics.  OEPS and Environmental Programs Group partner on activities and initiatives where messaging overlaps.

OEPS manages ES’s social media presence on Facebook and Instagram as well as creates content for the EnviroTalk newsletter, TV Tacoma, bi-monthly utility bill inserts, utility websites and the Recycle Coach App, which aid in reaching our City of Tacoma audience.  OEPS staff also creates educational and promotional materials to support utility programs and messages.

The City’s public education and outreach methods are designed for a variety of target audiences and messages as required by the Permit.  Per the 2019 Permit, the City’s education and outreach program shall be informed by local water quality information and target high priority audiences, subject areas, and/or BMPs.  The City will consider delivering its selected messages in language(s) other than English, as appropriate for the target audience.

The City also has several other campaigns that are helpful for our specific system such as the separated stormwater and wastewater systems campaign.  The City provides education for businesses and the development community focused on stormwater BMPs for both ongoing maintenance of water quality and flow control facilities and implementation of operational BMPs.