43 Pounds of Trash Pulled Out of Creek
Nearly three dozen volunteers hauled 43 pounds of trash out of Castro Valley Creek near the public library this past weekend, one weekend after a similar event at Carlos Bee Park in Castro Valley drew 30 volunteers to clear out invasive ivy plants there.
Alameda County’s Clean Water Program coordinated both events, partnering with California Coastal Cleanup in the Sept. 18 event and with the Hayward Area Recreation District in the Sept. 11 event at Carlos Bee Park.
Castro Valley Creek also runs through Carlos Bee Park, a bit upstream from Hayward’s Japanese Gardens. The Castro Valley Creek Trail parallels a section of the creek running from Castro Valley Boulevard, near CVS, past the Castro Valley Library on Norbridge Avenue. Signs along the trail highlight key points about the creek’s ecology.
Volunteer Coordinator Jennifer Trevis of the county’s Resource Conservation District, which works alongside the Clean Water Program, said healthy creeks are key to a healthy environment for local residents.
“Healthy creeks act as nature’s kidneys, with their plants and aquatic life filtering out toxins from water as it flows downhill through our communities and eventually to the Bay and ocean,” Trevis said.
“It’s sometime easy to forget they’re there, as we’ve covered them over in many places both for flood control and for building our communities. If we overdo this, though, we might find ourselves wondering where all that water came from all of a sudden after a rain, as the creeks and plant life along their banks are key to moderating water flows,” Trevis added.
There are several parts to keeping the creeks healthy, Trevis said. One is to keep out and pull out trash that impedes flow and could be toxic, another is to keep out invasive plants that cut off oxygen flows to aquatic life, and a third is to promote healthy vegetation along the banks. The volunteer events target all these areas, she said.
“We’re trying to beautify, bring in mulch for healthy plant growth and add signage for educating the public,” Trevis said. “We’re also trying to promote urban wildlife corridors along the creeks.”
The Castro Valley Creek event targeted trash removal, while the event the weekend before at Carlos Bee Park aimed at removing invasive ivy. It may look great on a house or old building, Trevis said, but in a streambed, it grows quickly and takes over by preventing native species from getting enough oxygen to survive.
Volunteers pulled out four pounds of recyclables from Castro Valley Creek on Saturday, along with computer parts, shoes and, oddly enough, clothing, Trevis said. But the biggest single category of trash alarmed her: cigarette butts, which are toxic to the creek and eventually the Bay, along with their plants and wildlife.