Local governments are working to meet federal requirements for controlling pollution in runoff water, combining education with mapping and enforcement.

The designated representatives of city, county and state agencies charged with overseeing that pollution control met Thursday at the Warren County Courthouse to compare their efforts. They meet twice a year to discuss progress on meeting requirements of the Clean Water Act that were first applied to this area in 2003.

Tim Slattery, city hydrologist for Bowling Green, said there’s a public cleanup of four to five miles of Barren River scheduled for Oct. 11. City staff have finished mapping all stormwater drains in the city, and are monitoring water quality at nine spots, he said. They’ve also identified the major spots where water flows back out of the ground.

The city runs a monthly course for contractors in controlling runoff pollution, and has certified 382 so far, Slattery said.

In conjunction with the state’s widening of Nashville Road, a runoff retention basin and wetland have been built next to Lost River Cave & Valley. In May, city commissioners agreed to pay $304,936 for S&R Excavation and Straeffer Pump & Supply of Evansville, Ind., to build the wetland. Slattery said it’s ready for dedication Oct. 10.

The basin is already finished, said Renee Slaughter, environmental coordinator for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s District 3 office.

“It’s been a long process, but I think it’s turned out really well,” she said.

Jack Wright, director of the Warren County Office of Stormwater Management and also representing Plum Springs, said he recently gave a list of seven pollution-prevention projects given to Warren Fiscal Court. Each of those small projects will be submitted to fiscal court for planning, design and construction, and more will be forthcoming every six months.

He and inspector Robert Elrod have inspected 60 construction sites for runoff-control compliance, and issued 160 notices of required corrective measures, Wright said.