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Have you ever noticed the silver aluminium fish on catchpits throughout the city and wondered "why are those there?"
The fish is our native giant kokopu. They travel up the Waikato River as small fish and live in some of the gully streams in Hamilton.
'Fish on Drains', Council's campaign addressing water quality in fresh water urban streams, highlights that the purpose of stormwater drains is to remove surface water from the roads directly to the river.
Stormwater drains differ from waste water drains, where the water is cleaned at the Waste Water Treatment Station before it is discharged.
Along with this surface water goes anything it is contaminated with: oil, cleaning detergents, cigarette butts, discarded plastic wraps and other rubbish. If we continue to wash pollutants into our streams through our stormwater, the survival of fish and other stream life may be threatened.
As part of the 2008 campaign school students in Hamilton were asked to write a story about our Kokopu with author of the winning story getting to name the fish. As a result Hamilton's Kokopu is now called 'Rusty'. Read: Rusty's Big Adventure
Keep an eye out for 'Rusty' the next time you are passing a stormwater catchpit and remember: Stormwater drains are only for rain! | 
