Street Sweeping

Did you know the grates in the street connect to Lakeville’s ponds, lakes and rivers? Things like leaves, buds from trees, leftover salt and other debris make their way to our waterbodies and harm aquatic plants and fish habitat. To combat this, City staff take an active role in clearing debris that may have gathered at these drainage points to uphold area water quality. By sweeping municipal streets with sweepers, proper street drainage is also upheld, preventing localized flooding impacts.

Street sweeping is performed in early spring (once the snow and ice have melted from the curb), in fall after trees begin dropping leaves and after large storm events. Streets near waterbodies are given highest priority for street sweeping efforts; however, all City streets are swept in spring and fall. To learn more about the City’s street sweeping program, check out this case study completed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. 

If you would like to do your part in keeping your neighborhood storm drains clear of debris when sweepers are not deployed, go to mn.adopt-a-drain.org and adopt your neighborhood storm drain! By sweeping leaves, trash and other debris off the drain year-round, you can reduce the amount of algae present in ponds and lakes in Lakeville. You even get to pick a name for your storm drain!