Hi, Just updating ChangeX with the details of our next River clean-up. The City of Peoria, AZ will hold its Earth Day clean-up event this weekend, Saturday, April the 9th 7 am to 11 am at the Skunk Creek Trailhead at 15091 N 83rd Avenue in Peoria, AZ. All are welcome to attend (age 10 years and older due to the terrain). Please contact [email protected] for details. Photos of the trash and some of the bird sightings in that area that make this a special place worthy of our clean up efforts

Just a reminder for those of you who's emails I don't have, we will be doing a clean up of the New River on Saturday November the 6th, starting from the Rio Vista Community Park Bridge, the west side, at 8am to 11am. Please email me directly at [email protected] for details if you would like to join us.

Hi all,
I have already spoken to some of you about this weekends clean up of the New River at Rio Vista. I realise we have some new folks who might not have seen the email.
We will be cleaning the New River this Saturday October the 2nd 7am - 10am, meeting at the Rio Vista Community Park at 8866 W Thunderbird Rd, Peoria, AZ 85381. Exit west from the 101/Thunderbird exit. Drive North on W Rio Vista Boulevard, toward the north end of the park, past all the Ramadas and playgrounds and park near the bridge. There is some construction at the last playground area.
It might be hot so please dress accordingly.
Please bring gloves, water, hats, sunscreen and bug repellant (if you feel you need them).
I don’t have a place to keep bags or bikes so please leave in the car or keep it with you.
Please no pets
Children 12 and older are welcome to attend but must stay with the adult at all times.
There are Restrooms on site.
Please do not pick up sharp objects, call me over.
Do not walk in any areas that have water.
It is still snake season – watch where you walk and use your picker to pick up objects.
You do not have to pick up anything you do not feel comfortable picking up. I don’t want anyone’s day ruined.
Do not touch wild animals, especially baby animals.
Parts of the trail head is rocky, please walk mindfully.
There wil possibly be some mud so wear shoes that you don't mind getting muddy.
We will be picking and bagging up trash as we go. This year we will be seperating aluminum cans from the rest of the trash for recycle. More on that when I see you.
I will give an introduction as well as a safety talk that will take 5 minutes at the start then off we go. For safety's sake, please keep 6 feet between you and nearest volunteer (except families).
We will share the trailhead with other users. Please watch yourselves around cars, bicycles, horses and hikers

I will have a hard copy of the waiver on hand to sign.

I hope you can make it and sorry for the late notice. We will have anotehr clean up on Saturday November the 6th at the same location (tons of trash I'm afraid :{)

They have arrived....your sparkly new Volunteer vests. Definitely run a little on the large size but we will look dashing as we scoot around the New River picking up trash. Bring on the Fall...we are ready!

40 volunteer vests with "City of Peoria Volunteer" on the back have been ordered. That leaves
$49. I will try to buy 2 Milkweed plants for the river to help the monarchs. I will have another update when the vests arrive.

We cleaned the New River at Rio Vista today. That area has a lot of Cattail plants and they were studded with Styrofoam, plastic, water bottles and old clothing. We also removed some large plastic pieces, the remains of a tent and a broken shade structure. All in all we had 12 bags. Estimated weight is 240 lbs. We used the seed funding to purchase fishing nets with retractable arms to allow us long reach to scoop the trash out of the water. The City of Peoria provided the gloves, bags and pickers. There were 8 of us cleaning and it was super hot and sticky down at the water (95F=36C) .This is a great group, there is a lot of cohesion around the need to keep our waterways clean as they are important wild life conduits.

Today we cleaned the New River at Rio Vista. Here is a photo of the team in action!

1. Team Photo - please see attached
2. Action Plan
A. We will clean the New River at Rio Vista. The meeting point is at Rio Vista bridge. If Flood Control are working in this area we will clean at Thunderbird bridge. In that case the meeting point will be at the Veterans Memorial helicopter. I will let you know on Friday which it is.
B. I will provide pickers, nets, trash bags, gloves. Please bring water, sunscreen, a hat, bug repellant (if needed) and sturdy walking shoes that might get wet.
C. I will have a waiver to sign on the day.
D. For COVID we will be required to wear a mask when talking to others. If you feel I well or are running a temperature please do not attend. I will have hand sanitizer and wipes as well as disinfecting spray.
E. Impact: I will take and share before and after photos. I will talk to the people who work at Rio Vista about the impact before and after
F. Seed funds: Ideas for how to spend the seed funds ($350). Design and buy high visibility vests that clearly call out New River Clean up volunteer. Buy some nets to help Scoop out the trash, especially styrofoam. Consider dedicating some funds for sign design, including QR Codes. Trash bins by each bench on the New River would help but will take a lot more than $350.
G. Community benefit: The New River is a wild life conduit. Trash negatively impacts wildlife (ingesting plastic, entanglement, toxins). Trash in the New River eventually gets washed down to Tres Rios which is a world renowned Important Birding Area.
H. With this project we hope to clean an area that is an eyesore, make a connection with the American Rivers Organization and hopefully learn some best practices from them. Finally we hope to elevate the profile of the New River in Peoria to be a point of pride, where trash is considered unacceptable and everyone is aware of the important role the New River plays in preserving biodiversity and the beauty of wildlife.

Looking forward to clean trails!

Just joined the cleanup in April.