On Saturday, September 19, the Russian River watershed came alive with community action.

From Ukiah to Monte Rio, 570 volunteers spread out across 25 cleanup hubs for Russian Riverkeeper’s flagship watershed cleanup, spending their Saturday removing trash, tires, and debris from creeks, riverbanks, roadsides, beaches, and other places throughout the watershed.

This year’s turnout surpassed last year’s 525 volunteers—a reminder that the community’s commitment to a cleaner Russian River continues to grow.

And there was another encouraging sign: we found less trash.

For an organization that works year-round to keep trash from reaching the Russian River, that is exactly the direction we want to be headed.

One Watershed, One Big Day of Action

The scale of the cleanup could be seen in dumpsters stationed throughout the watershed. Four 30-yard dumpsters alone collected:

  • 2,520 pounds at Sunset Beach
  • 1,920 pounds at Healdsburg Memorial Beach
  • 4,340 pounds in Ukiah
  • 6,200 pounds in Cloverdale

Together, those four dumpsters held 14,980 pounds of trash—nearly 6.8 metric tons—collected by volunteers in a single day.

Volunteers also removed more than 35 tires from the watershed.

But the numbers tell only part of the story. What made the day remarkable was seeing hundreds of people working simultaneously in communities throughout the Russian River watershed.

Ukiah-area cleanup hubs drew an impressive 170 volunteers. Farther downstream, some of the Lower River’s largest gatherings included a Santa Rosa Creek cleanup held in partnership with the City of Santa Rosa, where approximately 70 volunteers participated.

At Johnson’s Beach and around Guerneville, roughly 40 volunteers divided into four cleanup hubs across town, tackling different areas before coming back together as part of a much larger watershed-wide effort.

Starting the Day Together in Healdsburg

In Healdsburg, cleanup volunteers gathered at Memorial Beach before heading out to their individual cleanup locations.

The morning began with a heartfelt land acknowledgement and blessing from Hybrid Indigenous Stewardship leader Dylan Williams, grounding the day’s work in a recognition of place, stewardship, and our relationship with the watershed.

Russian Riverkeeper Deputy Director Don McEnhill then welcomed volunteers and provided the morning safety talk before crews headed out to get to work.

Those moments of gathering are an important part of the cleanup. Removing trash is the immediate task, but the larger purpose is building a community of people who see themselves as caretakers of the Russian River.

Cleanup—and Celebration

After a morning of hard work, the community spirit continued in Guerneville.

Russian Riverkeeper volunteers joined the Guerneville Pride Parade, proudly showing off their new tie-dye cleanup shirts and celebrating alongside the community.

The first 100 cleanup participants who registered for the celebration were also invited to an after-party at Russian River Brewing Company, giving volunteers a chance to trade stories, relax, and celebrate what they had accomplished together.

Every cleanup participant was entered into this year’s prize drawing. Congratulations to Sharon R., Scott A., Alysha R., Jeff B., Trish T., and Logan T., who took home prizes including a Safari West gift certificate, Costco gift card, Oliver’s Market gift card, Marimar Estate winery cheese tasting, Clean Composting swag, and Avid Coffee goodies.

We are grateful to the businesses and community partners who helped make the day special.

More Volunteers. Less Trash. That’s Progress.

One of the most encouraging results of this year’s cleanup wasn’t something we collected—it was something we didn’tcollect.

Even with 45 more volunteers than last year, crews encountered less trash across the watershed.

We see that as progress.

Russian Riverkeeper’s work to reduce trash doesn’t begin or end with our annual watershed cleanup. Our Clean Team and community partners work throughout the year to remove illegal dumping, abandoned tires, roadside debris, and other waste before it can make its way into local creeks and the Russian River.

The annual cleanup gives us an important snapshot of that work.

Our goal is not to break records for how much trash we can remove every September. Our goal is to see less trash there to remove in the first place.

Every bag picked up during the year, every dumping site addressed, every volunteer who learns more about their watershed, and every community member who takes responsibility for protecting the river moves us closer to that goal.

Seeing 570 people give their Saturday to the Russian River—and seeing the volume of trash at our annual cleanup begin to decline—is something worth celebrating.

Thank you to every volunteer, site captain, RRK staff, and sponsors for making this year’s cleanup one to remember!