City staffer helps Colorado students implement fish friendly car wash program

Federal Way’s Fish Friendly Car Wash Program has long served as a model for other local communities. But earlier this year, the City was surprised to learn that the program’s reach had extended several states away.

With help from the City’s water quality specialist Hollie Shilley, fourth-graders at Indian Ridge Elementary in Aurora, Colo., are poised to receive national attention for their efforts to educate people on the negative impact that car washing can have on natural waterways.

The students knew that residential car washing—and charity car wash events in particular—often sends large volumes of waste wash water down storm drains, creating one of the biggest sources of surface water pollution. In April, they took these ideas and developed them into an entry for Project Citizen, an education program sponsored by the Center for Civic Education and the
National Conference of State Legislatures.

An Internet search for background information brought up Federal Way’s program and Shilley’s name.