Schools of yellow fish will appear around Okotoks this weekend to help protect aquatic ecosystems.
Local Girl Guides and Pathfinders are taking to the streets for the Yellow Fish Road project, a national initiative of Trouts Unlimited Canada, to educate residents on the dangers of polluting water that ends up in storm drains.
Small yellow fish are painted on roadways near storm sewers to remind people that contaminates can go straight from the road to the river, including soap from washing cars, excess garden sprays or motor oils.
Trouts Unlimited Canada has run the program since 1991, and community members across the country have painted their streets with yellow fish.
“We’re trying to make more people aware, because so many people don’t understand they shouldn’t allow these things down the drain,” said Kelly Logan, Girl Guides area commissioner and Okotoks Pathfinders leader.
She said the Yellow Fish Road program allows them to reach out to the community and help the environment.
While Girl Guides across Canada have volunteered for the program for three decades, this is the first time the Okotoks Guides have pulled together a co-ordinated effort to participate, she said.
Logan said they’re starting small, taking on only the Suntree and Tower Hill areas of Okotoks and even that may be too much to tackle in one afternoon. An initial count of storm drains revealed 108 in Suntree alone, she said.
“It takes quite a while to set up at each drain with the paint and the safety cones and everything,” she said. “We probably won’t get to all of it, but we’re going to do as many as possible.”’
Though this year they’re starting small, she said she plans to expand the project next year to include all scouting troupes age 10 and up – Girl Guides, Pathfinders, Rangers, Scouts and Venturers.
“We’ll be able to cover a much larger area next year,” said Logan. “But for this year, it will be good for the girls to get out and have this experience.”
Jessica Spicer, Okotoks Girl Guides leader, expects the girls will enjoy participating in the project. She did when she was a young Guide in Calgary.
“It’s a great community service project for the girls to give back and an easy way for them to spread the word,” said Spicer. “And, they think it’s a lot of fun that they get to paint on the road.”
The project also educates the girls on water pollution, she said, as they learn about the environmental impact as part of the program.
On the street, the girls will be split into groups. While some paint, others will be in charge of safety and placing door hangers shaped like fish on the homes in the surrounding area.
Spicer said they intend to reach every storm drain in town over the next five years. The cycle will be ongoing for years to come, she said.
“It’s going to take a long time to get to the entire town,” she said. “The paint lasts for quite a few years, so hopefully we’ll get back to the neighbourhoods before their fish disappear to touch them up.”
