Marla Smith will never forget The Blob. She was sitting at her desk when the first message appeared in her inbox, followed immediately by phone call after phone call.

It was August 21, 2019, and a sighting occurred in a main waterway flowing to Town Creek. Residents were alarmed; the thing — whatever it was — was growing.

“The Blob,” Marla says ominously, remembering that day. As the Watershed Division Manager, she helps protect Auburn’s water bodies from contamination and monitors the municipal separate storm sewer system, or MS4.

The Blob was large, white and…foamy — a mass of tightly packed bubbles wrapping around trees and under roots as it floated curiously on, increasing in size with each waterfall. Not quite like the carnivorous, oozing alien in the movie of the same name, but close enough.

“A local construction project had spilled some hydraulic oil and went to clean it and used soap — way too much soap — and washed it off,” Marla said. “They didn’t think anything of it, but the more water that was added and the further it went downstream, the bigger it got. People were startled at this foam that was blowing up into a huge mass creeping its way through the woods quite literally like The Blob.”

In their investigation, Marla and her team learned that the construction workers were just trying to do what they thought was the right thing; they had even used biodegradable soap.

“We made the determination that it wasn’t going to have a negative effect on anything or harm aquatic life,” said Marla, who has seen all kinds of things in the field during her many years of working in water quality control. She previously worked for the State of Alabama before coming to the City of Auburn.

Finding the source

Not every situation is as comical or harmless. When reports of possible contaminants in Auburn waterbodies reach the watershed team, they investigate to determine the source, the chemicals and the details of what happened. Then they take action to mitigate any damage, as necessary. Essentially, part of their job is detective work.

Some cases are open and shut.

Dusty Kimbrow, watershed program coordinator, was working in a neighborhood one day when he observed an individual bagging up pet waste, which can contaminate nearby waterways. Before he could praise them for doing their part to protect Auburn’s water systems, the individual tossed the plastic sack in the storm drain.

“They went to all that effort to pick up the dog waste and, without realizing it, ended up contaminating the waterbody anyway by throwing it down the storm inlet into the creek,” Marla said. “Unfortunately, people don’t realize that the little holes at the end of the street do not go to our treatment facility. It’s a straight fairway to the creek.”

“Most people don’t want to pollute if they know better,” Dusty added. “Those instances are just about educating people.”

Playing your part

And education is a big part of what the team does — making sure people know how they can pitch in to help protect local water sources and wildlife. Everyday things like pet waste, grass clippings, paint and cement harm Auburn’s water systems. Picking up pet waste and throwing it in the garbage, or bagging grass clippings and leaves and setting them out on your regular collection day — both are easy ways to make a big difference.

Another way is by reporting potential violations of illicit discharge into Auburn’s water system — like a truck dumping concrete into a storm drain or someone offloading leftover paint into the gutter. An illicit discharge is any foreign substance that enters the waterways, and if you question whether what you’re seeing is illicit discharge, the watershed team encourages you to report it anyway. You can report by calling the Watershed Division at 334-501-3060 or by using the Auburn FixIt app. The more information you can provide, the better, such as a photo or a company name.

The team will investigate, and if given information about who is doing the dumping, will follow up with a warning. A second offense could land someone a citation for putting Auburn’s water sources at risk.

“We do rely on citizens because there are only two stormwater coordinators, one watershed coordinator and one of me,” Marla said. “The creeks and streams are like a toddler; they don’t have a voice, so we have to be a voice for them.”

Another important tip that may feel obvious: Don’t litter.

“Auburn does a good job of cleaning up roadsides, but once you get back into some of our streams, there is a lot of litter,” Dusty said. “What flies out of your truck eventually makes its way to the lowest point — the stream.”

To maintain pollutant-free waterways, Dusty and other staff members are out in the field every day, doing periodic sampling throughout town and collecting data. If bacteria is found in the water that exceeds water quality standards, Dusty will make his way upstream, conducting sampling along the way to determine where the problem is.

In the case of E. coli, for example, following it upstream usually results in locating a broken sewer line, which triggers the Sewer Division to get involved and make repairs, place signage up to instruct people to stay out of the creek and test the water until it goes back to a normal threshold.

In this way, the team aims to keep our water clean, to the benefit of the Auburn community and local wildlife.

“We take pride in our local water resources,” Dusty said. “Thinking about how we all live in the same city, we all live really in the same watersheds, too. So, what happens in our yards affects people downstream. Be cognizant of that, knowing that we’re all connected through the land.”

To learn more about the Watershed Division team, visit auburnal.gov/water-resource-management/watershed.