Welcome to Kid's Corner. Where you can learn about storm water pollution, and why our creeks, bays and ocean get polluted.

Storm water pollution happens because dirty water contaminated with stuff like trash, cigarette butts and dog poop, goes from the street into our creeks, bays and the ocean. This dirty water flows through storm drains, so it's called storm water pollution.

 The Watershed Sleuth Challenge

Storm Water Sleuth Coloring Pages

Storm Water Walk

 Storm Water Keywords

Catch basins

Catch basins are the openings in the gutter at the corner of the street. They catch water as it runs down the gutter, so they're called catch basins. Once something is swept, blown or washed into a catch basin, it goes directly to the ocean. That's why catch basins are for water only. Not trash.

Contamination

When the beach is closed because it isn't safe to swim in the ocean, it happens because of contamination. Contamination means something has polluted the water and made it unhealthy for swimming and sea life.

Runoff

When it rains, or when people use their sprinklers on their lawn or a hose to wash their car, the water runs down the gutter and into catch basins. This runoff mixes with garbage, motor oil and other nasty stuff and flows out into the ocean.

Storm Drains

Storm drains are the concrete openings or metal pipes you can see at the beach, that have water flowing from them into the ocean. If you see a large pool of water near a storm drain, stay away. It is polluted and could make you sick. Never play in the water flowing from a storm drain, or go in the ocean directly in front of a storm drain.

Watershed

It's not a building. It's a place. We all live in a watershed, a large area, even bigger than a city, where water drains through the streets, river beds and mountains down to the beach. Understanding how watersheds work helps us understand how to keep our rivers, lakes and the ocean clean.