The 12 winners of the school-based competition to design street artwork with the message only rain down the stormwater drain have been announced by the Minister for the Environment, Mick Gentleman and ACT Senator, Zed Seselja.
The competition required primary and secondary students from the ACT and surrounding region to design eye-catching street artwork to spread the message.
Mr Gentleman said each winning design demonstrated the impact pollution had on waterways through colourful, creative and thought-provoking art.
“The competition encourages students to become local champions for improving and protecting our waterways and helps reinforce the importance of ensuring only rain goes down the stormwater drain,” Mr Gentleman said.
“The winning artwork will be printed on high quality stickers designed for placement on asphalt and installed near stormwater drains at key locations across Canberra.”
Senator Seselja said the competition formed part of the education program designed to promote awareness of our impact on water quality, and the winning artwork highlighted that stormwater drains flowed directly to a nearby waterway.
“It’s important our community understand this direct connection,” Senator Seselja said.
“It is only a short trip from a stormwater drain in the street to our lakes and waterways where pollutants can contribute to outbreaks of blue-green algae and harm native wildlife.”
He said for example that rubbish that washed down drains in the Civic and Braddon area flowed directly into Lake Burley Griffin and downstream into the Murrumbidgee River.
He said the DrainART project was part of the H2OK: Keeping Our Waterways Healthy stormwater education program which was a joint initiative of the ACT and Australian Governments.
