Heavy Rain Hides a Secret!

Do you ever notice how clean streets look after a rain? It almost feels good seeing how there is no buildup of dirt, gravel, grass clippings and leaf debris along gutters and around storm drains.

But, there is a big secret. After a rain event, all of that sediment, dirt, leaves, and litter you once noticed is likely now in Maunalua Bay.  If the rain is enough, you may see brownish water around stream mouths and the shoreline. But, most of the time you cannot see it! Out of sight, out of mind.

The Maunalua Bay region is dotted with thousands of storm drains along the streets and Kalanaian’ole Highway. They are intended to take the water off the roads as quickly as possible to prevent flooding, which ideally is a good thing.

However, storm drains are connected to a complicated network of pipes and channels that eventually take water to a stream or channel and then into the Bay. Unlike our household water that goes to a sewage treatment plant to be treated, storm water runoff goes into the bay untreated.

This is why it is so important to cut back on the use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers used in your yards and along right-of-ways, to check cars for oil and other leaks, to use eco-friendly detergents or just water to wash cars/boats, if you do so in your driveway, and to avoid draining your pools into the street. These toxic chemicals and pollutants cling onto sediment, gravel, and debris which are not good for our marine environment and human health.

Please keep in mind storm drains are for the sole purpose of handling urban and rainwater runoff. Dumping trash, pollutants and debris into one is illegal. To report an illegal discharge, call the Environmental Concern Line at 808-768-3300.