Rutherford County stormwater staff report education outreach, dye tracing results, 41 pond violation letters and ongoing enforcement

Rutherford County stormwater staff reported a year of increased outreach, fieldwork and enforcement at the Citizens Stormwater Advisory Committee meeting, highlighting dye traces in the Harpeth River and Compton Spring Basin, a large round of pond violation letters, and ongoing work to keep up with rising construction submittals.

"We did 15 activities this year, and we did 5 with our engineering and development community," said Jonathan, the county's stormwater coordinator, summarizing the program's public-education work. Staff said education events included Earth Day, farmers markets, a lawn-and-garden expo, Project WET activities in schools, a hazardous household waste event, and a litter cleanup program run with the Rutherford County Correctional Workhouse.

On fieldwork, staff reported four summer interns assist with pond inspections, municipal facility checks and stream assessments. "Every year we hire 4 summer interns, and they help us do a lot of our pond inspections," staff said. Inspectors reported 65 active construction sites in the county during the reporting period and that municipal operations and facilities inspections were completed.

Jonathan described dye tracing conducted in two…