There are tens of thousands of storm drains on Surrey streets, and the city wants them all painted with yellow fish.
Why?
To remind everyone that Surrey's storm drains empty into fish-bearing streams.
"With untreated water flowing directly through storm drains into local creeks and waterways, it is critical to keep pollutants such as oil, paint or soap out of these drains to protect aquatic life," cautions a news release from city hall.
In other words, only rain should go down the drain.
To get more of them painted, Surrey's summer Storm Drain Marking Challenge is launched as "a fun, family-friendly initiative" involving marking kits that can be picked up for free at five recreation centres in the city (Clayton, Fleetwood, Fraser Heights, Newton, South Surrey).
Now until Aug. 15, it's a chance for the community "to get involved in environmental stewardship initiatives while having fun outdoors," urges a post on surrey.ca, where instructions include using the COSMOS app to plan storm drain-marking routes (storm drains show up as red, yellow or green fish-shaped dots on the map, in traffic light-like code).
Remember, pick storm drains only on streets with low vehicle traffic.
Surrey’s Salmon Tracks storm drain marking program is done in partnership with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to encourage residents to learn about salmon habitats and protect the water quality of streams.
Call 604-591-4321 with questions, or email salmontracks@surrey.ca.
