Knox County Stormwater
205 W Baxter Ave
Knoxville, TN 37917
Contact Information:
Aurin Lee, grace.lee@knoxcounty.org
256-224-3909
Mission:
The mission of stormwater compliance is to enhance the quality of life for Knox County citizens through education, service and management of water resources.
Knox County Stormwater seeks to monitor and protect water quality through education and management of water services. We assure compliance with EPA and TDEC ordinances. We monitor the stormwater systems and streams and mitigate pollution, erosion, and flooding. We also educate students, the general public, and other target audiences on the importance of water quality.
Education Programs:
Student Education – After school programs, At school - class time programs
Program Details:
Storm drain Style Off is an art competition to paint storm drains as an effort to educate the public about illicit discharges down the drain. This program is public-facing and includes all ages.
Families in the Creek is a family-oriented event to get kids interested and involved in creeks near them. We have biologists teach kids about benthic macro invertebrates and other water quality activities. Target age range is 7-9 years old.
Waterfest is an annual outdoor water education program hosted by Ijams and run by the Water Quality Forum with the help of us, Oak Ridge Stormwater, Town of Farragut Stormwater, and other partners. It is outdoors and has 16 water quality activities. Several hundred students attend and the target age is 1st-3rd grade.
In compliance with our permit, we provide education to not just students but other target audiences such as the general public, construction, and developers. Several of the education programs involve outdoor volunteer work such as cleaning trash from the Tennessee River.
Placemaking:
We have built a few rain gardens for schools. We also do some landscaping work at parks and other public places for people to enjoy native plants.
If we have grants, we enhance the landscaping of watersheds through rain gardens, native plantings, etc. This work is not specifically education related but is a form of place making for the general public.
Website and Social Media:
www.knoxcounty.org/stormwater/
Insta – @strongstreams