We are grateful to Supervisor Lynda Hopkins who along with Supervisor Gore submitted a $85,000 budget request to fund the Clean Camp Program in the upcoming fiscal year.
The Clean Camp Program works with unhoused individuals to prevent the accumulation of trash along the Russian River, by educating them and providing weekly trash pickups. The program has been successful, removing an average of 135,000 pounds of trash per season. Previously Riverkeeper was funded through Homeless Services to operate the program working closely with local homeless service providers. In the last two budget cycles, changes to federal and state homeless funding programs have moved all funds into housing programs, and the Clean Camp Program was not funded. RRK donors helped keep the program alive at a bare-bones level. We were no longer able to continue cleaning up abandoned camps or coordinating with service providers. With this County funding allocation, we will be able to catch up and prevent trash from getting into our river and ocean.
Supervisor Susan Gorin also supported the request to get the three votes required for approval. Supervisor Gorin requested that we increase the request for funds so Clean Camp staff could work with local groups on the Petaluma River and Sonoma Creek. Those waterways also have people camping along the banks and associated trash issues. Our goal will be to help assess these south county waterways and help local groups develop a plan to clean up accumulated trash and maintain the waterways in a clean state. Riverkeeper received an additional $40,000 to support our staff working with local river groups on Sonoma Creek and the Petaluma River and help fund their efforts to organize cleanup events.
Our staff will be working to identify funding for late 2025 to continue the Clean Camp Program when this County funding runs out. If you have a chance please Thank Supervisors Hopkins, Gore, and Gorin for their support for cleaner waterways across Sonoma County!