Community Involvement - Engineering Department
Storm Drain Art Contest
The City of Fairbanks and Tanana Valley Watershed Association (TVWA) have partnered each year since 2014 to bring awareness to pollution entering our location storm drains. Each summer the Annual Storm Drain Art Contest features artists that come up with creative and beautiful designs to raise awareness about the fact that storm drains in Fairbanks empty directly into the local river system, a habitat we want to keep clean for local wildlife and healthy recreational resource. Each year between 13-15 storm drains are painted on streets slated for reconstruction within the next 1-2 years. This outreach program also helps meet the requirements of the local MS4 Stormwater permit conditions per the Clean Water Act. The program has received national recognition as an innovative and effective outreach tool! To learn more about the program and how to get involved in the future please visit the TVWA Storm Drain Art Contest website.
Stream Cleanup Day
The City, along with supporting partners such as Alaska Department of Transportation, Tanana Valley Watershed Association, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks-North Star Borough, Lion's Club Fairbanks chapter, and local business sponsors, have hosted a Stream Clean-Up event on the 2nd Saturday of June each year for the last 14 years. The event involves 25-35 volunteers of all ages spending a morning in boats cleaning our local waterways. We then celebrate with a cookout at Lion's Club Park pavilion. The event typically results in ~800 lbs of garbage being removed from our local waterways each year. To get involved, keep an eye out for the advertisement on the City webpage and newspaper in late May/early June or contact the City Environmental Analyst at 907-987-5880.
