This paper describes the urban stream syndrome at Recife, a coastal city at northeast Brazil. The term “urban stream syndrome” have been used to describe ecological degradation of streams in urban environment. Recife city comprises by a low flat plain surrounded by small hills, with a network of water ways formed by three main rivers and almost a hundred of streams, some of them severely degraded. The accelerated population growth has generated disorderly urbanization and has negatively affected the water courses that suffer from problems of water quantity and quality. To carry out a diagnosis and check if the stream is sick, the integrity of the banks, color and smell of the water in the streams, the chemical quality of the water, the presence of organic matter and problems with the fauna were analyzed. Around 25% of the city sewage is not collected, which leads to the pollution of the entire water network. Most of the streams are eutrophic, with very low levels of dissolved oxygen and only more tolerant species can survive. Gradually society and public managers are becoming aware of the problems of urban streams and some initiatives are being taken to face the problem.