What is illicit discharge?
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), illicit discharge is “any discharge into a storm drain system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.” Illicit discharge could include household products, yard care waste, fertilizers, animal waste, vehicle soaps, and automotive fluids amongst many other items. Stormwater does not get processed through a water treatment facility, so these items go directly into our waterways.

The City of Watertown implements an Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) Program
to minimize the amount of pollution that enters local streams, lakes and wetland from discharges
to the storm sewer system other than those that occur due to rain and snow melt.  Please contact our offices at 920-262-4060 with questions on other allowable discharges.

What can you do?
There are various actions citizens can take regarding illicit discharge. These include:

*Register as a Storm Drain Protector by clicking on: Protect Wisconsin Waterways Storm Drain Protector Program. By doing so, you "agree to help prevent pollution from reaching storm drains near your home or business by keeping the area around the storm drain closest to your property free of debris and common pollutants." (-https://protectwiwaterways.org/)

*If you notice any entity disposing of any items into the stormwater system, we ask that you anonymously report them so the illicit discharge can be detected and eliminated. You may do so by utilizing Watertown’s Tip 411 (either submit your tip online at tip411 or text the tip to 847411 and enter WTTN as the first word of the text message. Begin typing your message to start a two-way anonymous conversation between a police dispatcher and yourself. Text the word STOP to end the conversation or when the dispatcher requests you to.)

By making the report, you are helping preserve the rivers, streams, and lakes in our area.