Photograph courtesy of the Santa Clara Valley Water District

Wheel It Away: Volunteers take time to pull refuse and debris out of Santa Clara County's creeks through the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Adopt-a-Creek program.




Local creeks in need of cleanup, adoption

By Amy Jenkins

Ross Creek, Los Gatos Creek and Guadalupe River all have two things in common: They are in Willow Glen and are in need of adoption.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District designed its primary community outreach program--the Adopt-a-Creek program--six years ago to keep such waterways clean. And even though about 130 groups volunteer to pick up trash at various creeks throughout the year, more are needed to help clean the 700 miles of creeks in Santa Clara County.

Schools, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, families and businesses are among the volunteer groups involved in the Adopt-a-Creek program trying to keep Willow Glen creeks clean. Broadway High School and Girl Scout troop No. 124 are two of the six groups that adopted Ross Creek, located between Leigh Avenue and Sandy Lane. Willow Glen High School and the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association are among the adoptees of Los Gatos Creek.

"Groups can be any size and as few as two people," says district spokesman Ed Morales. "It is up to them how large an area to adopt, but they shouldn't try to do too much. I recommend a family of four adopt between 500 and 1,000 feet."

Anyone can join the Adopt-a-Creek program who agrees to a two-year commitment of picking up trash in a section of creek twice a year. The water district provides gloves, trash bags and a maintenance group to haul away the trash.

"Many times objects found are very heavy, like shopping carts, engines and huge trees," Morales says. "We don't expect people to move these."

More than five decades of growing urbanization has led to runoff into storm drains, which empty into local creeks and out to the San Francisco and Monterey bays. Trash and debris from floods and litter from homeless people also end up in creeks, Morales says. This debris threatens humans, fish, wildlife and vegetation.

To recognize the efforts of the volunteers, the water district makes a sign, visible to highway commuters, with the adoptee group's name, Morales says.

Aside from the year-round Adopt-a-Creek program, on Sept. 15 the Santa Clara county Parks Department, the water district and the San Jose Department of Parks and Recreation collaborated in a Coastal Cleanup Day at 20 sites throughout the county. This is one of two nationwide annual cleanups--National River Cleanup is the other and takes place in May.

On this year's Coastal Cleanup Day, 1,100 volunteers worked for three hours, cleaning up 45,000 pounds of trash and 10,500 pounds of recyclable material. The California Coastal Commission gave out green bags for material that could be recycled and blue bags for debris.

"Since it happened several days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., this day was about thinking optimistically. The community came together to contribute and get their minds on something else," Morales says. "It was very successful in light of the tragedy."

On the Guadalupe River at McLellan Avenue between W. Virginia Street and Edwards Avenue, 52 volunteers gathered 1,500 pounds of trash and 105 pounds of recyclable material. Thirty-three volunteers cleaned the section of Los Gatos Creek at Blackford Elementary School between Stokes Street and Hamilton Avenue. At this site, 1,050 pounds of trash and 180 pounds of recyclable material were removed.

The water district needs the help of residents to participate in Adopt-a-Creek to keep the community and environment clean throughout the year.

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For more information about the water district's Adopt-a-Creek program, call 408.265.2600.

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