Conway High School students are working with Coastal Carolina University student interns and the City of Conway to mark storm drains in downtown Conway on Friday, May 28 beginning at 9 a.m. at City Hall on Main Street. Students will adhere round, plastic markers with the message “No Dumping: Drains to River.”

The Coastal Waccamaw Stormwater Education Consortium (CWSEC) began this pilot program earlier in the spring with the first drain markers placed on CCU’s campus and portions of Ocean Boulevard and Market Common in Myrtle Beach. Other sites that have been marked include Heritage Plantation in Georgetown County, Garden City Beach and Briarcliffe Acres.

Storm drain marking promotes awareness that storm drains transport pollution directly to local waterways. Marking volunteers such as students and Scout groups conduct research to investigate possible sources of pollution going into the drains and to determine whether markers result in pollutant-reducing behaviors.

The consortium is currently seeking funding to continue the pilot program so it may be implemented throughout the region in the coming years.

CWSEC is a regional collaborative effort providing stormwater education and outreach programs to meet federal requirements and satisfy local environmental and economic needs. Coastal Carolina University’s Waccamaw Watershed Academy coordinates activities within the consortium.

For more information, contact Karen Fuss, coordinator of the CWSEC and environmental educator with CCU's Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies, at 843-349-4058 or e-mail kfuss@coastal.edu.