EASTERN WASHINGTON
STORMWATER EFFECTIVENESS STUDIES
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STORMWATER EDUCATION
EFFECTIVENESS STUDY: DRAIN RANGERS PROGRAM
DRAIN RANGERS | FINAL REPORT 2022
Kara Kaelber, Education Director
Franklin Conservation District
1724 Superior Street, Pasco, WA 99301
Phone: 509-416-0440, ext. 107
Email: [email protected]
Martin Nelson, Development Review
Supervisor
City of Kennewick
1010 E Chemical Drive, Kennewick, WA 99336
Phone: 509-585-4306
Email: [email protected]
Brian Pope
Civil Engineer I
City of Richland
625 Swift Blvd. MS#26, Richland, WA 99352
Phone: 509-942-7508
Email: [email protected]
Drew Woodruff, PE
City Engineer
City of West Richland
3100 Belmont Blvd., Ste. 102, West Richland,
WA 99353
Phone: 509-967-5434
Email: [email protected]
Michael Henao
Environmental Compliance
Coordinator
City of Pasco
PO Box 293, 525 N. Third Ave., Pasco, WA
99301
Phone: 509-544-3080 ext. 3454
Email: [email protected]
Shilo Sprouse, CSI
Stormwater Services Program
Manager
City of Pullman
325 SE Paradise St, Pullman, WA 99163
Phone: 509-338-3140
Email: [email protected]
Jeff Wiemer
Regional Stormwater Coordinator
Asotin County
PO Box 160, Asotin, WA 99402
Phone: 509-243-2074
Email: [email protected]
Jack Wells
Natural Resource Specialist,
Stormwater Lead
Yakima County
WRD, 4th Floor, 128 N. 2nd Street, Yakima,
WA 98901
Phone: 509-574-2350
Email: [email protected]
Chad Phillips
Assistant Engineer
City of Spokane Valley
10210 E Sprague, Spokane Valley, WA 99206
Phone: 509-720-5013
Email: [email protected]
Randy Meloy, PE
Surface Water Engineer
City of Yakima
2220 East Viola Ave., Yakima, WA 98901
Phone: 509-576-6606
Email: [email protected]
Andrea Jedel, PWS
Municipal Stormwater Permit
Manager
WA State Department of
Ecology
1250 W. Alder St, Union Gap, WA 98903-0009
Phone: 509-575-2807
Email: [email protected]
Brandi Lubliner
WA State Department of
Ecology
Phone: 360-407-7140
Email: [email protected]
Abbey Stockwell
WA State Department of
Ecology
PO Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600
Phone: 360-407-7221
Email: [email protected]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Prepared in partnership by the following organizations and team members:
DRAIN RANGERS | FINAL REPORT 2022
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………. 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…………………………………………………………………4
1.0 Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5
1.1 The Stormwater Education and Outreach (E&O) Program…………………………………………………………………………….5
1.2 Problem Description……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
1.3 Results of Prior Studies ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
1.4 Regulatory Requirements…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
2.0 Project Overview…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
2.1 Study Goal…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
2.2 Study Description, Objectives and Tasks ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
2.3 Study Location and/or Target Population……………………………………………………………………………………………………………10
3.0 Organization and Execution……………………………………………………………………………………… 11
3.1 Key Project Team Members: Roles and Responsibilities……………………………………………………………………………….. 11
3.2 Training and Participating Schools……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
3.3 Challenges………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12
4.0 Test Results…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13
4.1 Pre/Post Surveys…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
4.2 Additional Tasks (Student Essays, Posters and Other Miscellaneous Items)……………………………………… 13
5.0 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………14
6.0 Recommendations……………………………………………………………………………………………………….15
7.0 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 16
Appendix A – Drain Rangers Curriculum: Overview and Objectives……………………………………………………………..16
Appendix B – EWA Drain Rangers Stormwater Student Pre/Post Survey Form……………………………………….18
Appendix C – Tabulation of Surveys……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19
Appendix D – Student Essays and Miscellaneous…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 25
Appendix E – Student Posters………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..30
DRAIN RANGERS | FINAL REPORT 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for municipal stormwater
discharges, stormwater pollution prevention education and outreach programs are important
elements of an effective stormwater management program. It is never too early to teach
principles of stormwater pollution prevention and to this end the Drain Rangers program was
developed in 2015 by the Pacific Education Institute, working together with formal educators,
cities, and nonprofits throughout Washington to create an excellent stormwater curriculum that
meets next generation standards.
In 2016, the Franklin Conservation District adapted the Drain Rangers program to Eastern
Washington needs, and in 2018 they are implementing the program through several elementary
schools (Grades 3-5) in the Quad-Cities (Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, West Richland) area of
Eastern Washington.
This study performed before and after testing on students in several elementary school classes
to measure the effectiveness of the Drain Rangers program, in areas of Action, Knowledge and
Attitude. Due to the effects of the worldwide pandemic, the study was performed from 2019-
2021. Ten 4th and 5th grade elementary school classes and 209 students were taught the Drain
Rangers program curriculum and given pre/post survey tests, with the results contained in this
document.
The study results indicate that the Drain Rangers program has a very positive effect on educating
students about stormwater effects and solutions. This included a 22% increase in expressed
actions to address stormwater issues, a 67% increase in scoring for stormwater knowledge and
solutions, and a 17% increase in expressed attitude that personal actions can make a positive
difference to keep waterways clean and healthy.
Based on those scores, this report enthusiastically recommends the continuation and further
implementation of the Drain Rangers program to educate elementary school students in the
stormwater world. The study includes recommendations for future implementation of the
program.
DRAIN RANGERS | FINAL REPORT 2022
1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 The Stormwater Education and Outreach (E&O) Program
The Eastern Washington (EWA) NPDES Phase II Municipal Stormwater (MS4) permit specifies that
the cities and counties covered under the permit (permittees) implement public education and
outreach (E&O) programs. The target audience for these programs is the general public, including
school-aged children, living in the permitted jurisdictions or region. The goal of these programs
is to inform the public about “…the importance of improving water quality and protecting
beneficial uses of waters of the state; potential impacts from stormwater discharges; methods
for avoiding, minimizing, reducing and/or eliminating the adverse impacts of stormwater
discharges; and actions individuals can take to improve water quality…”.
Some permittees meet this requirement by partnering with K-12 schools in their jurisdiction
and providing educational workshops and presentations focused on stormwater as part of the
regular school day for students. Other permittees partner with organizations, which specialize in
educational training, to provide formal classroom instruction on their behalf. For example, several
EWA permittees have an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the Franklin Conservation District (FCD)
to provide this service. These jurisdictions include:
• City of Ellensburg
• City of Yakima
• Yakima County Stormwater Group (Selah, Union Gap, Sunnyside, Grandview)
• Quad Cities (Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, West Richland)
• Asotin County
• City of Clarkston
• City of Asotin
The FCD has two stormwater education programs: Water on Wheels and Drain Rangers.
Water on Wheels is for students in grades K-6th. The goal of this program is to increase the
students’ awareness of water and soil conservation issues. The Drain Rangers program is for
students in grades 3rd-5th. The goal of Drain Rangers is to increase the student’s awareness and
understanding of stormwater pollution issues facing their community including the specific
actions students can take to improve the quality of the waterways in their community.
This study measured the effectiveness of the Drain Rangers educational program. Drain Rangers
was developed with funds from an Ecology Grants of Regional or Statewide Significance (GROSS)
Grant by educators, western Washington (WWA) permittees, and nonprofit organizations. Drain
Rangers is a stormwater curricular unit with 10 lesson plans that are intended to be taught in
classrooms and outdoors on the school site over a three to four-week period. The lesson plans
focus on teaching students what stormwater is, how pollutants can get into waterways, and
the actions students can take to keep waterways clean (i.e. prevent stormwater pollutants from
entering waterways). Students also apply the engineering design process to develop solutions
to stormwater runoff problems and then develop an educational campaign to share what they
learned with others in their community. The curriculum was specifically developed to align with
DRAIN RANGERS | FINAL REPORT 2022
the MS4s NPDES goals for the E&O programs as well as elementary school learning standards
including the Washington State common core for English Language Arts (ELA) and the Next
Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Drain Rangers was pilot tested during the 2016-2017 academic year at schools in WWA. The results
from the pilot study were released on June 30, 2017, and can be found at: http://pugetsoundstorm.
weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/3/11234420/drain_rangers-final_report.pdf
The FCD is one of the organizations involved in the Drain Rangers curriculum development. Their
role was to adapt the curriculum to EWA and provide teacher training workshops in Spokane,
Ellensburg and the Quad-Cities. An overview of the EWA lesson plans is in Appendix A and a copy
of the Drain Rangers curriculum is available on the FCD website: https://drive.google.com/file/
d/0B5-jJRFUiir7OXVDWFV0Zng4LTQ/view
The focus of this study was to measure the effectiveness of the Drain Rangers curriculum in up to
three EWA elementary schools in the Quad-Cities. In the end, the study involved ten classrooms
and ____ students, exceeding expectations.
1.2 Problem Description
Drain Rangers is a new educational program that has been implemented in a limited number of
WWA schools. As such, there are many questions about this educational program including:
• What is the short-term impact of the Drain Rangers educational program for increasing
student’s awareness and understanding of stormwater pollution immediately following
their participating in the program?
• Will the Drain Rangers educational program have a lasting impact on student’s awareness
and understanding of stormwater pollution one or more years after students participate in
the program?
• What aspects (if any) of the Drain Rangers educational program will motivate students
to take actions that will prevent stormwater pollution in their neighborhoods and
communities?
• Will teachers incorporate the Drain Rangers educational program into their standard
curriculum and make a long-term commitment to teach the program? survey them.
This study focused on the first question and sought to measure the short-term effectiveness of
the Drain Rangers stormwater educational program. Answering the questions in the other bullets
was beyond the scope and timeline of this Effectiveness Study. However, since the ultimate
goal of stormwater education programs is to make a sustainable, positive impact on students,
it is important to understand the variables that are more likely to yield this impact. This section
provides a summary of findings from related research that have attempted to answer similar
questions. These findings were all reported in a 2001 synthesis of literature written by Rickinson
titled Learners and Learning in Environmental Education: A critical review of the evidence
(Rickinson, 2001).
It is evident from research reported on K-12 environmental educational programs, similar to Drain
Rangers, that these programs can have a positive effect on student’s attitude and knowledge
DRAIN RANGERS | FINAL REPORT 2022
of the environment. Many studies have reported a significant positive impact in students
immediately after the program. However, the long-term impact of these programs on students
is not as evident. Some researchers have reported a measurable increase in student’s awareness
of the relationship between…