Could clearing storm drains help prevent flooding damage? Why a Milwaukee nonprofit wants help with 'Adopt Your Drain' program

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Bright orange vests? Check. White gloves? Check. Bucket? Check.

With all of their equipment in tow, Paige Orals and Delaney Griffin sit by a sidewalk near Bay View's Humboldt Park area, cleaning off piles of muddy leaves and other debris from the top of a storm drain.

They're members of Sweet Water -- a Milwaukee-based nonprofit that works to protect our waterways, including Lake Michigan.

"We always say, 'only rain in the drain,' because whether it's plastic, leaves, road salt, things like that, it can get into our waterways through those drains, really cause a lot of harm and damage to aquatic life and the water itself," Orals said. 

Sweet Water runs a free program called "Adopt Your Drain," which asks residents to sign up to regularly clean out their assigned storm drain before and after expected rainfall.

So far, more than 500 people have signed up to help but there are still more than 50,000 drains in need of care.

"It's a really simple thing to do, but it makes a really great impact on the watershed and it's a great way for people to get involved right in their front yard, literally," Orals said.

With the recent historic flooding that hit parts of southeast Wisconsin hard, Griffin said something as little as drain cleaning, which only takes minutes, would have made an impact on damage reduction.

"A clean storm drain can be the difference between a flooded and dangerous street and a street that is clear and passable," Griffin said. "It definitely could've made a difference in areas with lots of street flooding."