#ASKWATERSHEDANNIE CONTEST @CLEANWATERSHED STARTS 3/23

Annie, is the watersheds adorable mascot, and she loves everything watershed. She is always up for talking about ways to keep our watersheds beautiful and she is ready to answer any questions you might have about our watersheds. From March 23 to April 5, send in your question on Twitter to @CleanWatershed with #AskWatershedAnnie and you could win a  a four-pack of tickets to Universal Studios!

• On Twitter, use the Hashtag #AskWatershedAnnie

• On Facebook, ask on Community for a Clean Watershed’s Wall

Not sure what question to ask first? Here are a few questions she gets all the time:

• Stormwater is water from rain or melting snow that does not soak into the ground.
• It flows from rooftops, over paved areas and bare soil, and through sloped lawns.
• As it flows, this stormwater runoff collects litter, cigarette butts and anything in its path including pollutants. 

• The sewer system collects water from inside homes and businesses and carries it to a treatment plant where it is cleaned before being released into the ocean. 
• The storm drains system collects water and litter from outside our homes and businesses and carries it, untreated directly to the ocean. 

• There are a variety of ways you can reduce pollution in stormwater runoff including, implementing a few good "housekeeping" practice, maintaining your automobile cleaning up after your pets and taking unwanted hazardous wastes to a proper disposal facility. 

• What’s a watershed?  It’s all the ground outside – streets, sidewalks, parking lots, parks, and yards.

• In Ventura County our primary watersheds include the Ventura and Santa Clara Rivers, Malibu and Calleguas Creeks, and the bays and estuaries – all of which empty into the Pacific Ocean.

• Anything on the ground is in the watershed. Remember, the watershed should only shed water.

• Everything that goes down a storm drain flows untreated to our rivers, lakes, and beaches.

• Even if it’s not raining, waste builds up and is eventually swept into our rivers, lakes, and beaches.

• Water going down storm drains is not filtered or cleaned.  Help by picking up some litter every day.

• If we all make just a little effort, the watershed, our rivers, lakes, and beaches can be kept clean.

• Keep junk off the ground and out of the watershed. The watershed should only shed water.

• Be aware of what you may be adding to our watersheds. Let’s keep Ventura County beautiful.