Storm drain marking app developed by Lake County Water Authority

Many local governments have storm drain marking programs, with some having a requirement to do so in their stormwater permits. Although the Lake County Water Authority (LCWA) does not have a stormwater permit, it is the goal of the its staff eventually to have every storm drain in Lake County marked. To that end, LCWA regularly purchases markers and provides them to volunteers around the County. A difficulty arose in recording which areas had already been marked, and in directing volunteers to new areas. Enter LCWA GIS guru Ben Garcia, who offered to make an app.

Here’s how it works: Volunteers sign in to LCWA's ArcGIS site. The app detects the volunteer's location and asks the volunteer to select the street he is on, and to record the date and number of markers on that street. The map is updated in real time, showing completed streets and those with no storm drains. This allows LCWA to add data at a later date, when a stormwater system is installed.

For more information on the storm drain marking app, please contact Ben Garcia (beng@lcwa.org). To volunteer to mark storm drains in your neighborhood, please contact Maryann Krisovitch.