The Always Successful Great Texas River Clean Up Turns 33 With Help Of Sponsors, Donors, Volunteers

More than 1,000 volunteers picked up trash and debris in and along the Upper San Marcos River to Stokes Park; the river’s tributaries Cottonwood, Purgatory, Sink, Sessom, and Willow Creeks…

A record number of volunteers turned out for the 33^rd Annual Great Texas River Clean Up March 3, picking up many tons of trash and recyclable materials from the San Marcos River and its watershed.

More than 1,000 volunteers picked up trash and debris in and along the Upper San Marcos River to Stokes Park; the river’s tributaries Cottonwood, Purgatory, Sink, Sessom, and Willow Creeks; as well as the Blanco River and Plum Creek.

“Expanding the pick up sites at the Blanco River and Plum Creek keep trash from entering the downstream section of the San Marcos River,” said Melani Howard, City of San Marcos Habitat Conservation Plan Manager. “All these efforts help not only our own river, but also the whole ecosystem all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.”

Totals

• Total Trash: 31,377 lbs.
• Total Recycling:  10,480 lbs.; 31 passenger car tires and seven truck tires

An estimated 100 canoers volunteered to pick up trash in the San Marcos River from Stokes Park to the City of Luling:

• Total Trash: 40 cubic yards
• Total Recycling: 20 cubic yards; 30 passenger car tires and two tractor tires

“This was an amazing show of volunteers and team leaders, and a great support for our river,” said Amy Kirwin, City of San Marcos Community Enhancement Initiatives Manager. “Bringing different facets of the community together created an opportunity to educate them on storm water runoff impacts to the river, micro-litter impacts to the wildlife and recycling by diverting as much material as possible from the landfill.”

Sponsors

The 33^rd Annual Great Texas River Cleanup was sponsored by Texas River Protection Association, City of San Marcos, City of Kyle and Texas State University.

Multiple donors helped make the event possible: Abatix, Carson Properties, Casa Garcia’s, Clean Earth Solutions, Clean Earth Systems, Edwards Aquifer Authority, Greater San Marcos Partnership, Green Guy Recycling, Guadalupe Blanco River Authority, Gumby’s Pizza, HEB/Central Market, Honda San Marcos and David Cook, Jacob’s/CH2M, Keep Texas Beautiful, Marco Pizza, Premier Cuts, Plum Creek Watershed Partnership, RDO Equipment, San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, San Marcos Lions Club, Stericycle and Sur-Power Battery Supply.

To help minimize the amount of trash accumulating between the annual river clean ups, Keep San Marcos Beautiful, the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan and the MS4 program host Hot Spot cleanups on the first Saturday of each month. To receive notifications for cleanups, contact Kirwin at akirwin@sanmarcostx.gov.

People seeking to volunteer with the Habitat Conservation Plan should contact Howard at mhoward@sanmarcostx.gov.