Southwest Water Coalition to hold Major San Felipe Creek Cleanup

Yellow Crowned Night Heron alongside trash, shopping cart, and invasive plants in the San Felipe Creek

Volunteers from the Southwest Water Coalition are hosting a major San Felipe Creek Cleanup on May 24, and everyone in the community is encouraged to participate. The San Felipe Creek is a cherished community resource, the lifeblood of Del Rio. Sadly, it is suffering. Creek conditions are so severe that the Southwest Water Coalition has teamed up with Keep Texas Beautiful, Trash Free Gulf, and Texas Litter Database to conduct a systematic litter survey of the area.

The drought is not solely to blame for the creek’s lackluster appearance lately, the shopping carts, aluminum cans, fishing line, and dirty garbage piles are too responsible for the creek’s decline. Every single community member benefits from the creek, but not everyone shows it the same respect. San Felipe Creek is a natural resource that helps keep Del Rio alive. It feeds our irrigation systems, our municipal water supply, and is an abundant source of free entertainment.

The Southwest Water Coalition has planned the upcoming San Felipe Creek cleanup and litter survey for Saturday, May 24, of Memorial Day Weekend. Clean up will start at 9AM, meetup location is across from La Casa de la Cultura. Miller said, “it’s a fun event, Saturday morning, just cleaning up the creek.” Jesse Fuentes of the Eagle Pass Border Coalition will hopefully bring his kayak and canoe race team. Fuentes said, “I’ve been trying to get into the creek for the longest time, I have a kayak team that wants to help… if there is an opportunity for our team to come out and float the creek and help you clean it up, we would love to do that.”

Pristine creek conditions at private San Felipe Creek locations show the creek's potential

Organizers hope hosting the event during the busy holiday rush will help raise awareness and attract additional volunteers. Jake Carsten of the Del Rio Parks Foundation said, “part of our thought process is to allow people to see what’s going on… to talk to people and get more community involved on a rolling basis.” Dani Miller of the Devils River Conservancy said, “it’s a statewide campaign through this May that’s got 40+ cleanups across the state… it’s bringing awareness to how the litter in the waterways moves across the state and into the gulf. It’s important for local communities, not only for themselves, but for the general good of the state, to help protect their waterway.”

During the cleanup, assigned leaders will audit data about the quantity and location of trash found around the creek. Miller said, “you can track overtime the cleanups in your area, what kind of litter are being collected, and where they are coming from.” The Texas Litter Database provides a Data Submission Guide that requires a tally of items categorized by material type, distance found from available trash receptacles, and proximity to natural water sources.

The City of Del Rio plans to participate in the clean up efforts throughout the summer. City Manager Shawna Burkhart said, during the April 25 Southwest Water Coalition meeting, “the city is doing an employee appreciation day right before your event, and part of our appreciation day is cleaning up the creek.” Efforts can be coordinated; litter data can be collected by anyone in the community.

Southwest Water Coalition meeting on April 25, 2025

Burkhart said she has been in touch with Texas Parks and Wildlife, regarding “trash islands” accumulated around invasive Arundo plants. They said, “the city can also go in with a kayak and a raft and pull out that which is log-jamming in the center of the creek that is already horizontal… the Arundo that is floating already that is not attached in anyway, and so we will be beginning that this summer.” Trash build-up can cause bacterial contamination or create waterflow blockages and stagnation.

Lupita De La Paz of the San Felipe Creek Coalition and Casa de la Cultura said, “the city does a really good job on the banks of the creek, but our goal has always been going in the actual water, so we have done competitions where we take out the carts, the carts are always a big thing with the teenagers wanting to pull out the carts, the tires.” There will be collection contests and hopefully prize sponsors.

Representatives from across the state will be participating. The Devils River Conservancy, San Felipe Creek Coalition, Border Organization, and more than a dozen other concerned stakeholders from various counties are involved. H-E-B is a big sponsor of the event and will provide cleaning supplies, such as gloves, grabbers, and mesh trash bags for litter collection.

Representatives from across the state participated.