Stormwater management is an amenity that most citizens don’t even think about. That’s why it is important for municipal governments to communicate the benefits of stormwater management to other government agencies, community leaders, and members of the public. Public education campaigns are a useful tool for communicating that the impacts of stormwater pollution are real, and that investing in effective stormwater management can yield strong returns. Although the requirements of your MS4 permit only apply within your community’s legal jurisdiction, stormwater education campaigns are most effective and most efficient when applied at the watershed scale. This also creates the opportunity for you to collaborate with neighboring jurisdictions and watershed organizations.
Understanding the importance of a watershed outreach campaign
Engaging with the public and other stakeholders can lead to valuable input and assistance to inform your municipal stormwater management program. Thus, you should provide these groups with opportunities to play an active role in both the development and implementation of your program. An active and involved community is crucial to the success of your program because it allows for:
- Broader public support, as citizens who participate in the development and decision-making process are partially responsible for the program; therefore, they may be less likely to raise legal challenges and more likely to take an active role in its implementation.
- Shorter implementation schedules due to fewer obstacles in the form of public and legal challenges, and increased resources in the form of citizen volunteers.
- A broader base of expertise and economic benefits, as community members are themselves valuable resources.
- A conduit to other programs, as citizens involved in the stormwater program development process provide important cross-connections and relationships with other community and government programs.
Watershed outreach campaigns can be the most effective route for obtaining these important benefits and reaching the appropriate audiences, as they provide public education and awareness about the importance of protecting the lakes, rivers, streams, aquifers, and coasts that we treasure from the impacts of stormwater pollution.
You are strongly encouraged to combine your outreach campaign efforts with other MS4 programs. Messages are stronger if they are seen regionwide or statewide, and there is an economy of scale in implementing the program. You can customize materials to reflect local conditions, but strive for common themes, look and feel, and content.
Note that NPDES-permitted MS4s are legally bound to jurisdictional and political boundaries and do not always require watershed-level outreach campaigns. Developing, participating in, or collaborating with watershed outreach campaigns can help in meeting the public education and outreach and public participation requirements of your MS4 permit, but additional efforts may be needed to ensure full compliance with these requirements.
Maximizing the effectiveness of your outreach campaign
You can maximize the effectiveness of your public outreach campaign by:
- Linking outreach to watershed planning. Most federal, state, and local efforts to clean up pollution and protect water use a watershed approach guided by stakeholder partnerships, a geographic focus on specific drainage basins, and sound science. These efforts involve a continual need to inform, engage, and motivate water quality managers, stakeholders, cooperating agencies, elected officials, and the public using outreach campaigns.
- Using outreach to help meet water quality goals. Education can be a powerful way to reduce many sources of pollution. For example, in waterways affected by dog waste, education might be the simplest and most publicly acceptable way of reducing fecal coliform bacteria.
- Using outreach to develop a successful program. An effective outreach campaign will help gain the critical support and compliance that will lead to your program’s ultimate success and help you meet EPA requirements for Section 319 grant Note that your state may have additional Section 319 grant requirements.
- Using outreach to help change behavior. One of the most effective ways to get people to change their behavior is through social marketing. At its most basic level, social marketing means looking at your watershed community as customers.
- Building partnerships to achieve goals. A partnership is a voluntary collaboration of agencies, organizations, or other groups or individuals working toward a common goal. In some states, partnerships can develop and implement operational practices that also achieve some MS4 permit requirements. Engaging a wide variety of partners early in your outreach process can create a team that will be helpful in identifying audiences, messages, and formats for your outreach campaign.
Partnerships can provide access to financial resources; increase effectiveness, efficiency, and public influence; allow for creativity and innovation; and improve communication between typically adversarial parties. They also lend credibility when you are seeking funding and delivering your message. Consider multiple city departments and neighboring communities when pooling resources for stormwater-related educational materials, green infrastructure demonstration projects, and other commitments under your MS4 permit.
Developing your outreach campaign plan
To develop an effective watershed outreach campaign plan, you should follow six discrete steps (see Getting in Step: A Guide to Effective Outreach in Your Watershed for more information on how to develop and implement your campaign in concert with your overall water quality improvement goals). You should identify the elements and information you need to complete each step before proceeding to the next step:
- Define the driving forces, goals, and objectives. Ensure that your outreach goals and objectives are linked to your overall water quality improvement or protection goals. Also, open channels of communication to fully consider the views of the general public and decision-makers alike. Stakeholders should have multiple opportunities to help establish the plan vision and goals and to identify and prioritize project alternatives. Ideally, this process will yield community consensus and help reduce the number of challenges that remain when officials must determine whether to fund plan components.
- Identify stakeholders, target audiences, and potential partners. Outline several key groups, including community members and organizations, local institutions, and government agencies to engage. Complete the following steps:
- Identify key city team members and additional partners to support strategy development and outreach implementation.
- Outline the roles, responsibilities, and level of involvement of team members and stakeholders who will help implement aspects of stormwater management.
- Identify target stakeholder groups and audiences who are interested in, affected by, or could help implement activities related to stormwater management and identify the relevant goals and steps in planning and implementation for each group.
- Identify a team member to communicate with each stakeholder group, as well as the frequency and means of communication.
- Create the message. Think about the aspects of stormwater management that will resonate with each of the identified target audiences when creating your key messages. For example, homeowners may be interested in impacts on property values, neighborhood aesthetics, and recreational opportunities, while city departments may be more focused on financial impacts or changes in local flooding. Remember to consider your audience’s level of scientific literacy; express the science behind the problem without jargon and confusing acronyms, so it is more understandable to a wider audience.
- Package the message. Know the best way to package your message to reach your community (for example, if your live in a quiet retirement community versus a college town). The best channel for your stormwater management message depends upon your constituents and their preferences and could include:
- Targeted community events or public meetings.
- Postings on the city’s website or social media accounts.
- Existing community meetings, like when updating master plans, developing transportation projects, etc.
- Traditional media (e.g., newspapers, radio) and printed materials.
- Face-to-face meetings with elected leaders, municipal departments, and local and regional stakeholder organizations.
- Distribute the message. After identifying the most effective way to package your message, distribute it via the selected channels.
- Evaluate the outreach campaign. Outline methods to measure your campaign’s success by gauging public awareness or the effects of media outreach. Using a combination of metrics will ensure you reach a broader range of the public in varying socioeconomic classes and assess whether you need to make a mid-course correction to take a different approach.
To create a compelling key message:
- Keep it simple and focus on how these actions can help improve areas where people live, work, or play.
- Establish an emotional connection with the audience.
- Sell the benefits of your program rather than the features.
- Identify facts that can support your message.
- Explain the consequences of neglecting stormwater management (e.g., increased flooding, polluted waterbodies).
Examples key messages include:
- “There is a cost associated with stormwater management. Paying for these projects now instead of down the road will improve our community and save us money in the long run.”
- “Implementing stormwater management controls will result in a cleaner, more enjoyable community with more plants and recreational opportunities.”
Example Metrics to Measure Campaign Success
- Survey responses: the number and percentage of positive/negative responses, or an indication of understanding of key stormwater concepts (e.g., watershed, green infrastructure).
- Media tracking and social media impressions: number of articles in local and regional media; social media posts (Twitter, Facebook).
- Document downloads: number of document views/downloads from a website.
- Meeting attendance and contact information: number of attendees at public meetings and contact information of participants willing to share.
- Public comment tracking: number of comments broken down by positive/negative.
How to Ensure Successful Long-Term Implementation of Your Campaign
- Develop an operating procedure.
- Schedule day-to-day activities.
- Determine resources and support.
- Maintain the momentum.
- Overcome barriers to success such as:
- Poor coordination and planning.
- Lack of communication.
- Political wrangling and changing regulations.
- Fear of the unknown.
- Letting money drive the process.
- Letting the process bog you down.
Implementing your outreach campaign over time
Use your watershed outreach plan when updating and conducting stormwater management activities over time. Outreach activities can build awareness about stormwater services, inform the public about your program’s activities, communicate the value and benefits of stormwater management, access local knowledge and experience, create buy-in for infrastructure investment expenditures, and identify potentially contentious issues or deal-breakers. Scale your efforts according to local conditions and program goals. The following table summarizes some key factors to consider.
Key Factors to Consider During Outreach and Engagement
| More Intensive Effort Needed for Outreach and Engagement if… | Less Intensive Efforts Needed for Outreach and Engagement if… |
|---|---|
|
Stormwater issues are complex, and solutions are unclear. |
Program drivers and solutions are relatively simple and straightforward. |
| The municipal stormwater program needs substantial new funding. |
The municipal stormwater program needs modest or minimal additional funding. |
| Decision-makers are unfamiliar with stormwater services and needs. | Decision-makers understand that stormwater is a priority. |
| The community has little awareness of water issues and opportunities. |
The community highly values clean water and the need for stormwater services. |
Overcoming outreach implementation challenges
Traditional methods of soliciting public input are not always successful in generating interest and subsequent involvement in all sectors of the community. For example, municipalities often rely solely on advertising in local newspapers to announce public meetings and other opportunities for public involvement. Because large sectors of the population may not read the local press, this method might only reach a limited audience.
Therefore, you should use alternative advertising methods whenever possible, including radio or television spots, social media, postings at public transit stops, announcements in neighborhood newsletters, announcements at civic organization meetings, flyers, mass mailings, door-to-door visits, telephone notifications, and multilingual announcements. These efforts, of course, are tied closely to your public education and outreach minimum control measures.
Target your advertisements and invitations for specific groups, including ethnic, minority, and low-income communities; academia and educational institutions; neighborhood and community groups; outdoor recreation groups; and business and industry. Involve a diverse cross-section of people who can offer a multitude of concerns, ideas, and connections during the program development process.
You can also overcome outreach and engagement challenges by incorporating best management practices such as:
- Public meetings/panels that allow citizens to discuss various viewpoints and provide input concerning appropriate stormwater management policies and practices.
- Volunteer water quality monitoring that gives citizens firsthand knowledge of the quality of local waterbodies and provides a cost-effective means to collect water quality data.
- Volunteer educators/speakers who can conduct workshops, encourage public participation, and staff special events.
- Storm drain stenciling, an important and simple activity that concerned citizens, especially students, can do.
- Community clean-ups along local waterways, beaches, and around storm drains.
- Citizen watch groups that can help local enforcement authorities identify polluters.
- “Adopt A Storm Drain” programs that encourage individuals or groups to keep storm drains free of debris and to monitor what is entering local waterways through storm drains.
- Community input on fish consumption advisory posting signs for waterways that are associated with stormwater pollutant inputs.
As an example of effective communication and outreach, consider an MS4 that has concluded through its Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination program that a certain section of town has a high incidence of used motor oil dumping. The watershed has numerous automotive businesses including small repair shops, large auto dealerships, gas stations, and body shops. In addition, there are several large apartment complexes with areas that could be used as “do-it-yourself” oil change areas. The MS4 organizes a public meeting in the watershed to not only educate residents about stormwater issues and permit requirements, but also to ask for input regarding possible dumping areas and to determine if the community needs an oil recycling facility or some other way to safely dispose of used motor oil. In this way, the MS4 might better understand who the target audience is for illegal dumping control while implementing a valuable service for the watershed community.
Changing Behaviors Through Community-Based Social Marketing
Community members can contribute to effective stormwater management by choosing behaviors that prevent excess water runoff from their residences. But traditional community outreach approaches for communicating this information, like distributing brochures and fact sheets, can result in little or no behavior change.
Fostering Sustainable Behavior: Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) pioneered the use of CBSM to promote sustainable behavior change. The CBSM method is based in social psychology and draws from the idea that sustainable behavior change is most effective when it involves direct contact with people at the community level.
CBSM has been proven to be an effective, practical approach to fostering sustainable behavior change. It includes five major steps:
- Select behaviors.
- Identify behaviors and benefits.
- Strategize behavior change.
- Pilot the strategy.
- Conduct broad-scale implementation.
Resources
The publications listed below provide more information about stormwater-related outreach.
| Article Description | Categories | categories_hfilter |
|---|---|---|
Your Quick Guide to Community-Based Social MarketingAuthor: Penn Sustainability (University of Pennsylvania) | Developed/Updated on Date: 2020 Web Link: https://www.sustainability.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/CBSM%20%20FINAL1.pdf This guide provides a “crash course” in Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM), providing essential knowledge from Doug McKenzie-Mohr’s book Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing. Community-Based Social Marketing has been proven to be effective at fostering sustainable behavior change. Its practical approach includes five steps that are helpful for all program managers to know. | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach |
Watershed WatchAuthor: Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program | Developed/Updated on Date: 2019 Web Link: http://www.mywatershedwatch.org/ The Watershed Watch Campaign is a public education initiative of the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program (SCVURPPP), an association of fifteen government agencies in Santa Clara Valley. The Campaign is dedicated to raising awareness about protecting watersheds and preventing storm water pollution. This website provides free resources and easy everyday ways to prevent pollution in neighborhood, local creeks, and the Bay. | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
Using Community-Based Social Marketing to Reduce Residential Water Runoff: Behavioral Results from Two Field ExperimentsAuthor: Nick del Valle, County of San Diego and Jennifer Tabanico, Action Research | Developed/Updated on Date: September 14, 2016 In this presentation, we report the methods, outreach materials, and results from two pilot studies implemented in San Diego County that used community-based social marketing to target residential water runoff. Study 1 (implemented in 2015) focused on reducing runoff by encouraging residents to repair broken sprinklers. Study 2 (implemented in 2016) focused on reducing runoff by encouraging residents to reduce lawn watering time. The presentation engages the audience through a series of visual representations of data as well as outreach materials. The goal is for audience members to take away examples of tested outreach materials for residential audiences as well as an enhanced understanding of the application of community-based social marketing to stormwater runoff issues. | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach |
Stormwater Phase II Final Rule Public Participation/Involvement Minimum Control Measure Fact Sheet 2.4Author: U.S. EPA Office of Water | Developed/Updated on Date: September 2018 This fact sheet profiles the Public Participation/Involvement minimum control measure, one of six measures the operator of a Phase II regulated small municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) is required to include in its stormwater management program to meet the conditions of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. This fact sheet outlines the Phase II Final Rule requirements modified December 9, 2016 and effective on January 9, 2017. It offers some general guidance on how to satisfy them. It is important to keep in mind that the small MS4 operator typically has a great deal of flexibility in determining how to satisfy the minimum control measure requirements in its NPDES permit. | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
Stormwater Phase II Final Rule Public Education and Outreach Minimum Control Measure Fact Sheet 2.3Author: U.S. EPA Office of Water | Developed/Updated on Date: September 2018 This fact sheet profiles the Public Education and Outreach minimum control measure, one of six measures an operator of a Phase II-regulated small municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) is required to include in its stormwater management program to meet the conditions of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater permit. This fact sheet outlines the Phase II Final Rule requirements modified December 9, 2016 and effective on January 9, 2017. It offers some general guidance on how to satisfy them. It is important to keep in mind that the regulated small MS4 operator typically has a great deal of flexibility in choosing exactly how to satisfy the minimum control measure requirements in its NPDES permit. | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
National Extension Water Outreach EducationAuthor: University of Wisconsin | Developed/Updated on Date: 2020 Web Link: https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/wateroutreach/ Use Best Education Practices to plan an effective natural resources outreach strategy. Resource and research examples focus on water:
Use social assessment resources to design a natural resources outreach initiative with measurable impacts:
| Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
Getting in Step: Engaging Stakeholders in Your Watershed—Second EditionAuthor: U.S. EPA Office of Water | Developed/Updated on Date: May 2013 Web Link: https://cfpub.epa.gov/npstbx/files/stakeholderguide.pdf Stakeholder involvement is more than just holding a public hearing or seeking public comment on a new regulation. Effective stakeholder involvement provides a method for identifying public concerns and values, developing consensus among affected parties, and producing efficient and effective solutions through an open, inclusive process. Managing that process requires some attention to the logistics and synergies of creating and operating a team of diverse people pursuing a common goal. This guide is intended for federal, state, tribal, and local agency personnel, as well as nongovernmental organizations, that are involved in watershed management activities and are building a stakeholder group. The guide can also help private organizations interested in recruiting stakeholders and involving stakeholders in local or regional watershed efforts. | Communication and Outreach: Engaging Stakeholders, Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | engaging-stakeholders outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
Getting in Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns—Third EditionAuthor: U.S. EPA Office of Water | Developed/Updated on Date: November 2010 Web Link: https://cfpub.epa.gov/npstbx/files/getnstepguide.pdf Now in its 3rd edition, EPA’s Getting in Step guidance includes information on effective social marketing techniques and social networks to achieve outreach goals and objectives. The guide offers advice on how watershed groups, local governments, and others can maximize the effectiveness of public outreach campaigns to reduce nonpoint source and stormwater pollution and protect the lakes, rivers, streams, and coasts that we treasure. Additionally, the guide references EPA’s Nonpoint Source Outreach Toolbox, which is an online compendium of resources—including TV, radio, and print ads—to help organizations develop an effective and targeted outreach campaign to reduce pollution in stormwater runoff from herbicides, fertilizers, petroleum products, sediment, and other nonpoint sources. In summary, the guide is intended as a reference that pulls together principles, techniques, and information for effective watershed outreach into a single, user-friendly source. | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
Fostering Sustainable Behavior: Community-Based Social MarketingAuthor: Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Ph.D. | Developed/Updated on Date: 2011 This online book details how to uncover the barriers that inhibit individuals from engaging in sustainable behaviors. Further, it provides a set of “tools” that social science research has demonstrated to be effective in fostering and maintaining behavior change. Each of these tools in and of its own right is capable of having a substantial impact upon the adoption of more sustainable behaviors. Collectively, they provide a powerful set of instruments with which to encourage and maintain behavior change. This online guide also details how to design and evaluate programs. The strategies detailed here, and the methods suggested in order to implement and evaluate them, form the basis of an emerging field that I refer to as “community-based social marketing.” | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
Erase the Waste Campaign—California Storm Water ToolboxAuthor: California Water Boards | Developed/Updated on Date: July 18, 2013 Web Link: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/outreach/erase_waste/ The California Water Boards offers a free multilingual California Storm Water Toolbox, a comprehensive set of educational and outreach tools developed as part of the Board’s Erase the Waste campaign. These action-oriented tools are free to all interested parties and have already been shared with environmental representatives from California and U.S. cities, China, Mexico, and South Korea. The Erase the Waste campaign, sponsored by the California Water Boards, is a public education program, working to reduce harmful storm water pollution and improve the environment of the region’s coastal and inland communities. The campaign started in Los Angeles County, and materials produced during its three-year run have now been packaged here for state and nationwide use. It is built around the theme, Erase the Waste—a positive, empowering theme that encourages all residents and stakeholders to take ownership of their communities, help reduce and prevent storm water pollution from the local landscape and “become part of the pollution solution.” The California Storm Water Toolbox includes the following tools for residents, community and civic groups, educators, municipalities, and public agencies:
| Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach public-participation |
Community-Based Social Marketing WebsiteAuthor: McKenzie-Mohr & Associates | Developed/Updated on Date: 2019 Web Link: https://www.cbsm.com The cornerstone of sustainable and healthy communities is behavior change. Sustainability requires that individuals and businesses engage in diverse actions, such as reducing waste, increasing water and energy efficiency, altering transportation habits, and protecting native species. Healthy lifestyles require individuals to make smart food choices, exercise, avoid smoking and excessive sun exposure, and engage in a myriad of other actions. Research demonstrates, however, that the traditional approach of using ads, brochures, or websites to encourage behavior change simply doesn’t work. A new approach, community-based social marketing, is now being used effectively in numerous programs across the globe. | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Public Education and Outreach | outreach-campaigns public-education-and-outreach |
Measurable Goals Guidance for Phase II Small MS4sAuthor: U.S. EPA | Developed/Updated on Date: Not dated Web Link: https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/measurablegoals.pdf According to the Stormwater Phase II Rule, small MS4 owners/operators must reduce pollutants in stormwater to the maximum extent practicable (MEP) to protect water quality. The regulations specify that compliance with the MEP requirement can be attained by developing a stormwater management plan that addresses the six minimum control measures described in the stormwater regulations. These six minimum measures are described in detail in a series of fact sheets developed by EPA. One component of the stormwater management program is to select measurable goals to evaluate the effectiveness of individual control measures and the stormwater management program as a whole. This guidance is designed to assist small MS4 operators to comply with the measurable goals stormwater permitting requirements. The guidance presents an approach for MS4 operators to develop measurable goals as part of their stormwater management plan. This guidance is divided into five main parts: | Communication and Outreach: Outreach Campaigns, Good Housekeeping in Municipal Operations, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, Management of Construction Site Runoff, Management of Post-Construction Site Runoff, Program Goals and Management: Developing a Program, Program Goals and Management: Vision and Goals, Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation | outreach-campaigns good-housekeeping-in-municipal-operations illicit-discharge-detection-and-elimination management-of-construction-site-runoff management-of-post-construction-site-runoff developing-a-program vision-and-goals public-education-and-outreach public-participation |