The Washington Stormwater Center joined with communities around Puget Sound to get volunteers to keep stormwater drains clear of pollutants and debris. The Adopt-A-Drain program, launched a year ago Saturday, already has nearly 1,500 drains adopted.
However, Seattle itself has around 20,000 adoptable storm drains that send stormwater directly into rivers, lakes, creeks, and even Puget Sound. More participants are needed for the program to reduce pollutants flowing into natural waterways around the sound and elsewhere across the state.
“Whatever we can prevent from flowing into storm drains, that’s material we’re keeping out of waterways,” said Ani Jayakaran, a professor at Washington State University and a faculty affiliate at the stormwater center, which is administered by WSU. “We don’t know the full extent of the damage coming from roadways and stormwater debris, but we’re starting to figure out what some of the impacts are.”
