[SEMCO] Please submit photographs of stormwater pipes through stormwater.buzzardsbay.org

[Betsy White]

The Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative, a partnership between the 
Buzzards Bay Action Committee, municipalities in the Buzzards Bay 
watershed, and the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program, has begun a 
program to map and monitor pollution discharged from stormwater pipes 
and road cuts into Buzzards Bay. At many sites, stormwater discharges 
are the primary cause of swimming beach and shellfish bed closures.

The public can help with this effort by submitting photographs of 
stormwater discharge pipes. You can simply email the photographs to me 
at photos at buzzardsbayaction.org, or use our interactive mapping website 
to upload photos from your mobile phone or tablet. The photographs will 
help us identify unmapped discharges and document the condition of 
discharge pipes. We want pictures of pipes -- whether or not water is 
flowing from them. If you see a failing catchbasin (filled with sand or 
blocked with debris), you can submit photos of those sites too.

If you are walking along a beach, trail, or on walkway and see a 
discharge pipe, simply go to http://stormwater.buzzardsbay.org  on your 
smart phone or wireless tablet. Click the "interactive map" link in the 
drop down menu, and click the refresh button to update the map to your 
location. The website will use the GPS in your device to estimate your 
location. With the web application, you will see whether the discharge 
pipe is already mapped and photographed. Again, if you want to submit 
just one to a few photographs of stormwater discharges, you could also 
simply email them, with a clear description of the location or its ID 
number (from the website), to photos at buzzardsbayaction.org .

If you want to use the website to upload many photographs, you might 
want to read the information guide is at this link: 
http://stormwater.buzzardsbay.org/interactive-map-directions.pdf

Thanks,

Betsy White
Stormwater Specialist
Buzzards Bay Action Committee
40 Center Street Fairhaven, MA. 02719
508-990-0931