GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On a warm July afternoon, dozens of people are walking in Riverside Park enjoying views of the mighty Grand. A team of people is cleaning up trash from the park. Across the street, Carrie Rivette has another kind of mess to clean up.
"This one has gotten pretty bad," she says, pointing to a storm drain along Monroe Avenue near the corner of Graceland Street. It's covered in leaves, dirt, grass clippings, a pop bottle and a CBD container.
Rivette is the Wastewater and Stormwater Maintenance Superintendent for the City of Grand Rapids, which is asking people to remove debris from their storm drains.
"Anything you put in your yards and your property and the street ends up in our waterways. We do what we can. We clean our sumps about every five years, but that won't keep things from getting to our streams," Rivette said.
"Our catch basins are a way to get to our waterways. We want to protect our beautiful river and we want to make sure people can be in it, so we want to make sure it stays clean."
But keeping storm drains clean is a mission that goes well beyond preserving the environment in West Michigan. It's also a safety issue. Clogged storm drains can cause flooded roads, which mean dangerous driving conditions.
"It's amazing. I have been up to my knees in water in the street simply because the basin was covered with leaves. And it only has to be one layer. It doesn't have to be huge," Rivette said.
Then there are mosquitos. Kent County has been hit hard by them this year and the Health Department just reported the detection of West Nile Virus for the first time this season. More standing water means more mosquitos.
"Fresh water into the sump is what keeps our catch basins from collecting mosquitos. If we have it ponding in the street, if it ponds there for a long time, that'll cause your mosquitos. Around five days, that'll be enough so the larvae can breed," Rivette said.
The Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds has an "Adopt A Drain" program, which the city encourages people to participate in. They have an interactive map where you can find and adopt drains near your home.
The watershed covers communities along the Grand River from Grand Haven in Ottawa County to Portland in Ionia County. Many of those communities participate in the "Adopt A Drain" program.
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