Public Awareness of Delhi Charter Township Storm Water Public Education Activities

This study evaluated the success of Delhi Charter Township's (Delhi) Stormwater Public Education Program (PEP) by measuring the level of citizen awareness of the water environment and citizen behaviors relative to stormwater pollution. The top four successful educational activities were educational pamphlets, newsletter, web site, and the open house respectively. The impact of the PEP so far was a consistent and high 82% correct awareness score and a room-forimprovement 64% correct learning score. Results supported that Delhi citizens were more knowledgeable of water quality issues than the greater Lansing area. Survey results did not show sufficient evidence to conclude there was a positive linear correlation between the paired results of awareness scores and number of exposures to educational materials at the à level of 0.05 but it did at á 0.1. Recommendations included establishing a water quality study of local water bodies; increased educational efforts on lawn maintenance, the fate of stormwater runoff, and the sources of water pollution; and increased effort to target 18 – 30 and 61 – 70 year old citizens.