Clean Water Starts With Us

Published on October 01, 2023

The City of Dunedin is an urbanized coastal city and home to Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island State Parks. It is also located along St. Joseph Sound, which is known for prolific seagrass beds that provide a habitat for marine life. Our adored coastal City showcases the best beaches, recreational boating, kayaking, and sunsets in the Tampa Bay area. We have pictures to prove it.

Often misunderstood is the connectivity between the City’s highly urbanized watershed and its’ coastal waterways. All Dunedin residents live in a watershed. A watershed is an area of land that channels rainfall to creeks, streams, lakes, and eventually to outflow points such as Tampa Bay, and the intercoastal waterway, (NOAA, 2022). 

When it rains, this stormwater runoff flows over land or impervious surfaces such as parking lots and streets, and does not soak into the ground, (Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2022).  The runoff picks up pollutants like fertilizer, pet waste, petroleum oil, trash, and leaf litter along the way which flows directly into a nearby waterbody with no advanced treatment.

Here’s how you can make a difference in protecting our waterways: 

  • Never dump anything down storm drains
  • Properly dispose of pet waste
  • Check your car for leaks and recycle motor oil
  • Do not blow leaf litter and grass clippings into the road or stormwater system.
  • Wash your car over a grassed area or use a car wash
  • Control soil erosion by planting over bare spots in your landscape
  • Compost yard waste
  • Use fertilizer sparingly
  • Clean up trash and yard waste in your yard and gutters, and around storm drains.
  • Use Florida-Friendly Landscaping

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