Colorado Springs issues reminder about proper leaf removal

As leaves fall and blanket our yards this season, Colorado Springs officials remind us to keep them out of streets, curbs and storm drains.

On Thursday, the same day that city officials issued a release on the subject, KRDO NewsChannel 13 showed video to Jeff Besse, water quality manager, of a man pushing leaves onto 8th Street with a leaf blower.

“That’s a no-no,” Besse said, shaking his head. “Leaves put additional nutrients into our waterways — particularly, phosphorus. That creates algae downstream, plants grow out of control and oxygen decreases in the water.”

The city already has water quality issues, currently defending itself from a lawsuit by the EPA, the state and Pueblo County.

Besse said leaves also can clog drainage systems, cause street flooding and require more work by crews who use street sweepers to clean up leaves that already are abundant.

“It only takes us half a block, maybe just 10 minutes, to fill our truck with leaves,” said Daryl Brown, a street sweeper driver. “The storm last weekend really accelerated the process and brought more leaves down.”

Officials advise that you place leaves into trash bags for pickup, or mulch and compost them to fertilize vegetation on your property.

But some homeowners aren’t convinced that’s a good idea.

“Not in the Old North End neighborhood,” said Dan Schrag, a resident there. “With all of the large trees we have along streets, there are too many leaves to mulch them all.”

Besse said the city can fine people who deposit leaves into streets, curbs and gutters.

“But we generally don’t do it,” he said. “We prefer to issue friendly warnings and educate people about proper leaf disposal. We are getting more complaints from citizens about people who are improperly disposing of leaves. We investigate those and our crews also will stop and remind people if we see them doing it the wrong way.”