Adopt-a-Drain Community Challenge
Simple action. Cleaner Water. Community Pride.
In our urban landscapes, stormwater washes more than water through our neighborhoods. Leaves, grass clippings, trash, and road debris can all end up in storm drains — and from there, directly into our lakes, rivers, and streams. Removing debris so only water goes down the drain means less pollution, less algal blooms, and cleaner water.
That’s where the Adopt-a-Drain Community Challenge comes in.
Hosted with support from the East Metro Water Resource Education Program (EMWREP), this challenge helps communities turn small neighborhood actions into real water-quality impacts. Read more about the communities currently participating below!
If you are a community interested signing up for the challenge, check out this PDF with more information!
Woodbury vs Cottage Grove - through May 31st, 2026!
The communities of Woodbury and Cottage Grove decided on a little friendly competition to boost storm drain adoptions in their communities. From May 4 through May 31, 2026, residents who adopt storm drains and report cleanings will help their community climb the leaderboard while protecting local lakes, rivers, and streams from pollution.
To keep the challenge fair, results are normalized based on population size—meaning every adoption and every cleaning counts, regardless of community size. Residents can also compete to see which city reports the most cleanings and removes the most debris from around storm drains during the challenge period.
It’s a fun way to build community pride, increase awareness about stormwater pollution, and encourage simple actions that make a real impact on local water quality.
Woodbury vs Cottage Grove - Update after Week 1!
Cottage Grove: 14 new adopted drains since 5/4
Woodbury: 22 new adopted drains since 5/4
Current normalized standings:
Cottage Grove — 0.32 Woodbury — 0.27
Lake Elmo - through May 15th, 2026
This spring, Lake Elmo kicked off one of the first local Adopt-a-Drain Community Challenges with a goal of increasing storm drain adoptions and encouraging residents to help keep drains clear during spring rains.
The community has already made great progress, achieving 15 of their 20 new storm drain adoption goal during the challenge period. Since the beginning of the year, residents have also logged dozens of cleanings and reported removing hundreds of pounds of debris before it could wash into local lakes and streams.
The challenge has focused on helping residents better understand how stormwater moves through neighborhoods and how small actions—like clearing leaves and debris from a nearby drain—can help protect local water quality.
From engaging local Girl Scouts and Rotary Club to highlighting the named storm drains and community milestones, Lake Elmo has shown how a little fun and community pride can inspire real environmental impact.
Troop 58607 helped with some storm drain cleaning and hanging door hangers about the Adopt a Storm Drain program.