Adopting Stormwater Drains

After a fabulous citizen science morning with WAI Wānaka a few months back, we’ve now joined their Adopt a Drain programme and taken responsibility for the two stormwater drains outside our Wānaka office. A quick weekly check helps keep rubbish out of our lake, rivers, and wildlife.

We keep our rubbish “art” on display as a visual reminder to get out and check the drains. If you squint a bit, it’s almost kinda pretty!

We’re also picking up other small but mighty habits, like washing ski-road dirt off our cars on permeable surfaces like lawn or gravel, so that sediment doesn’t end up flowing into stormwater drains.

Thanks to WAI Wānaka for teaching us that looking after our fresh water isn’t complicated—little things really do add up!