A clean sweep

I took a long weekend--and spent a few hours on the front lawn watching the world go by with my year-old son. Because I'm 'into' stormwater, I did pay attention to the vacuum-type street sweeper that noisily--and slowly--rounded the corner nearby. It occured to me that it would take a lot of time to catch all the streets in Cambridge at that pace.

The MPCA recommends at least two city sweeps every year:
1. Right away in the spring--just as soon as the snow melts
2. In the fall, to gather up all the leaves.

The BMP Summary Sheets (required under the MS4 Permit) make it clear that street sweeping isn't required:

Although not specifically required by the MS4 permit, street sweeping has been demonstrated to be an effective stormwater management BMP when properly conducted. The MPCA is considering developing a study on street sweeping and your information would be helpful in developing such a study.