Dozens of volunteers clean up San Diego River ahead of expected rain
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Cleaning up the San Diego River is an ongoing task, but crucial ahead of more rain.
On Saturday, more than 150 volunteers worked to clean up the river with the San Diego River Foundation.
The goal was to clean along the river from SR-163 to Fashion Valley Road.
Dozens of volunteers showed up and picked up storm debris and trash, but with a smile.
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Volunteer Basia Nolan filled up her free time by filling up trash bags.
“That’s why we are doing it, because we need to keep our community clean. It’s just good to have a nice city to live in,” said Basia Nolan, river clean up volunteer.
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The trash comes from several areas, such as the streets, storm drains and nearby neighborhoods.
“We found a bow and arrow, there is some stuff back there like that. We found a mattress, a spring mattress, a few shopping carts… a lot of shopping carts,” Nolan said.
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“This is the perfect time to get all of this debris before it might eventually end up in the ocean because it’s flowing downstream,” said Rachel Downing, the river team program manager with the San Diego River Foundation.
Downing said her team does a targeted cleanup along the river twice a week, then invites the public at least once a month.
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Downing said after the Jan. 22 rain storm, they saw increased trash caught in the river’s vegetation.
“When you have something of that magnitude that happens that fast, there is just so much trash that accumulates that is not accounted for. A lot of trash skips the storm drains, because the river, it rose about 10 feet from where it naturally sits,” Downing said.
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Downing said it’s a reminder for all of us to do our part to minimize trash in the river as more rain is expected.
“Be mindful where your trash is going, making sure you’re throwing things away where it should be thrown away, not just throwing it out the window,” Nolan said.
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