DENVER — With Earth Day around the corner, volunteers got together Sunday morning to make Colorado's natural resources shine.
Dozens of people picked up all kinds of trash on the banks of the South Platte River.
Callum Steedman and Micki Balder said Sunday was the perfect day to volunteer and make a difference.
"There’s people just cruising the river, picking up little things, but if you stop and look at one spot, you could spend all day here and still not get all the trash," Steedman said.
Mid-morning, the duo filled up half of one of their bags and about a quarter of the other.
"My bag is small because all I’ve been finding is foil, cigarette butts, plastic straws," Balder said. "And that’s the stuff people are less inclined to pick up. People will pick up bottles, but what about the bottle caps? That’s the stuff that ends up in the water and kind of gross."
Denver water lawyer James Eklund said all trash, big and small, has an impact on the river's overall quality.
"Colorado is the headwater state," Eklund said. "A lot of people don’t know that. Eighteen downstream states down in Mexico get water that starts right here in rivers like this, so it’s really important that we get it right when it comes to policy, law."
Eklund said the South Platte River faces a lot of challenges, like other rivers that cut through a major city.
"We’ve turned our back on this river in the Denver metro for a long, long time," he said.
He said the Clean Water Act set in place important protections of U.S. waterways, but there's room for the current generation to continue to support its mission.
"There’s a gap between where the regulations leave off and the rivers we want to see and enjoy," Eklund said. "Days like this are exceptionally important because it brings it home to everyone that helps."
Several organizations brought volunteers to the river for the cleanup Sunday.
Steedman and Balder said it was admirable to see so many people helping to reverse some of the damage done to the South Platte.
"People showed up today, and that’s the hope piece and what I hang my hat on," Steedman said.
"People are trying," Balder said.
Even with the work of volunteers, Eklund said some aspects of the environment are beyond help.
He said a large snowfall this year contributed to a higher river flow than average. However, that flow isn't translating to an equally high runoff.
"We’ve had a two-and-a-half-degree temperature increase over the last 30 to 50 years. That means our snowpack isn’t behaving the way we’re used to," Eklund said. "It’s going from a solid state of matter to a gas, skipping a liquid, which is the one we need it to be in when it comes down through systems like this."
Still, he said he's glad people are doing what's within their capabilities to take care of a resource he values too.
"It’s one system," he said. "We have to treat it as such. It just warms my heart to see this kind of activity going on."
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