Pollution flowing out of Albuquerque in the Rio Grande is a and other downstream communities. Now the city is boosting oversight of water contaminants.
A found the Rio Grande had high levels of E. coli and other pollutants last year. A lot of the contaminants wash into the river through Albuquerque鈥檚 storm drains. But until a was put into effect this week giving Albuquerque officials new enforcement powers, there wasn鈥檛 much the city could do if they found pollution running through the stormwater system.
鈥淲hat the ordinance does is it gives us control at the local level over what goes into our storm drainage system,鈥� said stormwater manager Kevin Daggett. Controlling pollution at the city level鈥攁nd being able to track down polluters鈥攕hould lead to better water quality, he said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited about the fact that we鈥檒l be able to clean the water up, not only in our storm drain system, but in the river,鈥� Daggett said.
The city is also hiring more water quality inspectors, and most importantly, Daggett said, stepping up education campaigns around water pollution.
