Let's change our ways to change our waterways



photo of urban waterway.
Heathcote River at Annex Road (Spreydon School)

 

Toi tū te marae o Tangaroa
Toi tū te marae o Tāne
Toi tū te iwi

If we look after the waters and land around us, we will be looked after in turn.


Environment Canterbury. Christchurch City Council.

At School

All the stormwater from Christchurch City's roofs, roads, driveways and parks flows down drains into a series of underground pipes and open waterways, our stormwater network. This water eventually flows into one of our City's rivers, the Avon, Heathcote, Halswell and Styx Rivers, the Estuary and Brooklands Lagoon and eventually out to sea. Most stormwater doesn't get treated at any point on its way to the rivers, so whatever goes down the drain generally goes into the rivers.

Actions schools can take

  • Keep grounds tidy so litter doesn't go down drains or gutters
  • PDF file. Do not dispose of chemicals/paint/cleaning water directly into drains 92kB
  • Hold carwashing fundraisers either at a commercial carwash or on school grounds such as fields or grassy areas - not on concrete quads or carparks where water runoff runs straight into the stormwater drains
  • Start a streamcare group for local streams or waterways, especially if any run through the school grounds.

It's raining, It's pouring

It's Raining, It's Pouring.
Larger jpg version of picture 209kB | PDF file. PDF version of picture 792kB

Contact us to find out more

For more information about healthy streams and rivers please contact info@cleanwaterways.org.nz or Jenny Bond, Environment Canterbury ph 363 9348, email jenny.bond@ecan.govt.nz or Zoe Dewson, Christchurch City Council ph 941 8999.

About the cleanwaterways project