Since the fall of 2003, over 100 environmental concern and complaint reports have come in through the Blue Water Hotline. The Hotline is offered to the general public with the goals of providing residents a number that they can call with environmental concerns and complaints and to help defer and resolve some of the smaller-scale complaints from state and county agencies, with the hope of helping lessen their workload. The Blue Water Hotline handles approximately 1-3 calls each week. Each report is handled by the coordinator, who evaluates the complaint and

1) determines the legitimacy of the complaint,

2) determines whether or not the complaint can be handled by the campaign,

3) BWRT members need to be dispatched to gather more information, and

4) determines if the complaint will be forwarded on to the appropriate regulatory agency.

If it is determined that the complaint should be handled by a regulatory agency, all of the details and photos (usually collected by members of the BWRT) are forwarded on to the appropriate personnel. The campaign works cooperatively with the state Department of Health’s Clean Water Branch, City and County’s Storm Water Quality Branch and other agencies statewide.

CONCERNS & COMPLAINTS *

SMALL SCALE
LARGE SCALE
Response by Campaign
80% (complaint messages are responded to, so that caller knows something is being done) 50% (many times complaint is beyond the scope, resources & capabilities of the campaign)
Handled by Campaign
25% (coordinator will contact the parties involved and help resolve the problem, or suggest possible solutions) 0% (the campaign has no jurisdiction or enforcement capabilities)
Turned over to regulatory agency
75% (all information gathered is handed over to agency personnel) 25% (most times agencies are already aware of these complaint cases)
Follow up by Campaign
75% (coordinator follow-up with the compainant/caller) 25%
Resolution and Success
50% 0% (all cases are still pending)
*These percentages are approximations only.

Small Scale = Example: Auto detailer washing cars and rinsing soapsuds down storm drain.

Large Scale = Example: Large development, ongoing problems, numerous agencies involved.