Colorado River Alliance hosted its Fourth Annual Lake Austin Cleanup on May 16^th from 10 AM to 12 PM. Volunteers joined CRA and its emerging conservation leaders group, The River Society, for a day on Lake Austin, helping remove litter and debris from the river by paddleboard, kayak, and shoreline volunteer efforts. More than 100 volunteers participated and removed 249 lbs of litter from Lake Austin.

The Lake Austin Cleanup was a participating cleanup of Trash Free Gulf, a Texas-wide initiative led by Gulf Trust with the goal of removing thousands of pounds of trash across the State of Texas during the month of May before litter and debris can float downstream to the Gulf.

The event began at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters, where volunteers gathered before moving into volunteer shifts. Lake Austin Calm provided 45 volunteers with complimentary access to paddleboards for the duration of the cleanup through their paddleboard rental company located at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters. LCRA Parks provided more than 20 volunteers with complimentary access to single and double kayaks launched from Walsh Boat Landing. Volunteers also participated as land volunteers, removing trash and debris from the watershed before it reaches the Texas Colorado River.

Thanks to volunteers, hundreds of pounds of trash and debris were removed from Lake Austin, including beams of wood, glass, cans, a car window, and much more, helping protect the Texas Colorado River and keeping drinking water cleaner and healthier.

The Texas Colorado River supplies drinking water for 1.5 million people in Central Texas as well as providing opportunities to boat, fish, SUP, kayak, and enjoy water recreation. Volunteers helped keep this vital drinking water source clean and flowing for generations to come.

Lake Austin Cleanup litter data will be reported to Keep Texas Beautiful’s Litter Database, the first statewide litter database of its kind that places local litter prevention and cleanup efforts in the context of statewide efforts.

All photos courtesy of: Daniel Cavazos