Marrickville Council is one of 13 councils in the Cooks River catchment and has been working with neighbouring councils and other organisations (Universities) to implement a stormwater improvement program to improve the quality and quantity of stormwater run-off to ameliorate the health of the Cooks River.

The most major undertakings of the Council include:

• Installing pollution control devices on drains emptying into the river.
• Participating in the Cooks River Environmental Assessment and Education Project (CREA&E)
• Spearheading the Streets to Rivers Project

Streets to Rivers was launched in 1998 to reduce pollution in Cooks River and is additionally supported by the NSW Government through its Stormwater Trust. The goal of this project is to raise awareness of water quality and how to improve this in the Cooks River.