Trash and Runoff

When the monsoon season is upon us (and we are hopeful for a monsoon season), the City of Albuquerque is busy trying to control the quantity and quality of the City's storm water runoff. At right is trash removed from one small storm at a typical storm water pump station.

One of the major problems with storm water runoff is the tremendous amount of floating material, such as plastic bottles, cups, and plastic bags, that must be screened out of the runoff by the City before the water is discharged into the Rio Grande.

The City of Albuquerque is in the process of retrofitting numerous storm water facilities to increase their effectiveness of removing floatables from storm water. The photos on the left show the tremendous amount of floating debris that was caught by existing collection facilities and removed from storm water during one light rain in the downtown area. At left is a close-up of typical trash removed at storm water pump station.

To preserve the quality of the water in the Rio Grande, residents are encouraged to dispose of trash in designated receptacles and not in the storm drain system.