Kadafi El-Kardah at Vernon Park. (Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)

Stormwater drains are essential to our everyday lives. In Philadelphia, it helps to prevent street flooding, reduce pollution in the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, prevent sewer overflows, and protect and enhance public safety. 

As reported by GIH, many Philly neighborhoods, including Germantown, have combined sewer systems, meaning rainwater from the streets and wastewater from our buildings share the same underground pipes. So when one is impacted, a domino effect usually occurs.

Harmful forces like littering and illegal street dumping threaten our drinking water sources when things like pet waste, cigarette buds, leftover debris from construction, and more enter and contaminate the storm drains.

But a new program is looking to combat that – collaboratively.

Insert “Drain Buddies!,” a coalition of Germantown neighbors who want to make a positive impact in the neighborhood by monitoring, cleaning, and reporting on their nearby drain of choice.

While this Adopt-a-Drain model may sound familiar to some, this one promises to foster much more.

“It’s a movement rooted in community ownership, environmental stewardship, and local pride,” explained Kadafi El-Kardah, who proposed this developing project for this year’s Knight Emerging City Champion fellowship.

He says the project’s name itself symbolizes the personal connections between people and the stormwater drains.

El-Kardah is a Citizen Planner by way of the Citizen Planning Institute, circa 2019. The lifelong Germantown resident also obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from La Salle University in 2015, which is no surprise since he’s a nature lover.

He sits on various committees and boards in the city, including as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership, which helps illuminate his familiarity with the city’s water system. And you might also find him planting trees with the Germantown Tree Tender group.

And what inspires this Germantowner to be into so many facets of urban planning?

“Really just walking around and seeing so much room for improvement,” the jack of all plans told GIH. “I love where I live. And I want other people to love where they live.”

And so much so that El-Kardah wants what would be Philly’s first-ever program of its kind to be “connected to Germantown.”

Aside from the people’s involvement, he hopes Germantown neighbors will pay tribute to the historic buildings, favorite places in the neighborhood, and former Block Captains who are no longer with us through the storm drain naming.

“So if people go to the website and browse through the map, they can learn more about Germantown from the residents,” the Citizen Planner said, listing off possibilities like “Johnson House,” “Awbury,” and “Uncle Bobbie’s.”

The map is an expected function of a website that El-Kardah is looking forward to building around the program. On the website, neighbors will be able to see which drains are already adopted, their current status, and whether they’re clean or need cleaning.

He also hopes to provide a link and encourage buddies, already reporting, to report bigger issues, like water emergencies or illegal dumping, to the Philly311 app. 

For El-Kardah, this program isn’t about working against other Philadelphia Water Department programs, like the Storm Drain Marking program, where neighbors are encouraged to mark their nearest storm drain with educational decals. Instead, Drain Buddies! seeks to connect more neighbors to them and transform awareness into action.

A better look at the decal on the stormwater drain at the Chelten and Morris intersection above. The decal, issued by the Storm Drain Marking Program, reads “Keep It Clean! Drains to Wissahickon Creek,” with contact information to report dumps and clogs.

(Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)

He says this program provides follow-up maintenance with the added element of community ownership.

El-Kardah is also clear that while this is volunteer-based, it doesn’t mean that things can’t be fun or that there can’t be an incentive. He names get-togethers, friendly competitions, raffles, and gift cards as possibilities to make that happen.

And there will be something for everyone, as El-Kardah also promises youth engagement.

He plans to partner with local organizations and businesses to help obtain recognition, like maybe a portrait of some buddies inside the Watershed on Wayne, or rewards like a coupon from a local eatery.

As core stakeholders in the community, El-Kardah said that these partnerships are essential to help build this work, naming his hopes that organizations and businesses will help to promote the event, too.

And while not quite sure how it would work, right now, the head-buddy-in-charge is sure he wants reporting to involve specific metrics like how many water bottles someone picked up while at their civically-named drain.

“I think data is very important, especially when it comes to the impact I want this program to have,” El-Kardah said.

Drain Buddies! Will be made possible through the Knight Emerging City Champions (KECC) fellowship and microgrant supporting young civic innovators with ideas that enhance trust, community connection, and local resilience.

The La Salle alum is one of 20 champions chosen from eight cities (Detroit, Akron, Philadelphia, Miami, Charlotte, San Jose, St. Paul, Macon) to receive $5,000 in seed funding, plus a $500 tech stipend, to execute their ideas that respond to community needs, build on local assets and are brought to life through strong local collaboration.

There is one other Philadelphia champion this year, Jessica Haddad, who will bring free dental care and information to underserved Philly communities through mobile weekend clinics.

In this year’s press announcement, Francesca de Quesada Covey, Knight Foundation’s vice president of community impact, talked about why they invest in emerging leadership.

“…because we see their potential to lead change. By backing their ideas and elevating their work, we aim to spark solutions that take root locally and grow to strengthen civic life across communities,” she said

So what can neighbors expect next from the Drain Buddies! program?

Well, last week, El-Kardah and the other champions met in Toronto, Canada, from August 14 to 16 for an immersive, three-day learning experience. For the next year, he will undergo ongoing virtual learning labs and monthly meetups to support peer-to-peer learning and capacity building.

And in exactly one year, Germantown will begin to reap the hopeful benefits of Drain Buddies!.