Stormwater

Our day-to-day habits at home and in the streets can have an enormous impact on our waterways. What we leave on land will quite likely be picked up by stormwater and end up in our rivers, creeks and the ocean.

What is Stormwater?

Stormwater is rainwater that finds its way to the nearest drainage system or watercourse. This is the rainwater that hasn't soaked into the ground, been captured in a rainwater tank or depression, or evaporated.

The Problem with Stormwater

As stormwater runs off our properties into the drainage system, it picks up pollutants and carries them along with it. In most cases, stormwater ends up in our rivers, creeks and the ocean. This means that all the pollutants it has picked up along the way ends up in the rivers, creeks and ocean too.

Next time you go for a swim in the ocean or a river, just think of all those pollutants that have been discharged into the same water you're swimming in.

City Stormwater

Compared with rural areas, a larger percentage of the land in our cities is covered with impermeable surfaces. This means less water can soak into the ground and a greater build up of water runs through our stormwater systems. This results in more water pouring into our rivers and creeks at the same time and therefore, flooding is more likely.

Heavy stormwater running into our creeks can damage sensitive bushland and can encourage more weeds.

Less water filtering into the ground means there is less ground water is available for our use. It also means there is less ground water to maintain springs and creeks during dry weather. And this results in us using more (precious) drinking water for those purposes.

Stormwater Pollution

It's a very unfortunate fact that stormwater becomes polluted as it drains out onto our water ways. Stormwater pollutants can come in many forms. To learn about the most common stormwater pollutants, see the next article, Stormwater Pollution.