Volunteers urge county help after removing millions of pounds of debris from Steelhead Creek

Several volunteers with the River City Waterway Alliance addressed the board during public comment, describing extensive debris and unpermitted structures in Steelhead Creek and other waterways and asking for more county assistance.

David Ingram opened the group's remarks: "We just passed 3.7 million pounds of trash removed after our 1,000th cleanup," he said, and described recurring shopping-cart dams and other obstructions that volunteers say are reducing fish passage for endangered Chinook salmon. Lisa Sanchez, showing photos, described a "pallet palace" of stacked pallets and a roughly 20-foot vessel and said the structures are increasingly elaborate and located in flood zones near levees.

Volunteers said the main source of much debris they encounter is unhoused encampments and abandoned, flooded-out sites; they asked the county for more help removing physical impediments and for better access to grants and county resources. The volunteers said they intend to apply for grant funding now that their group is a 501(c)(3), but that the grants they have used historically were small and not sufficient for repeated heavy-removal work.

Supervisor Desmond and other board members thanked the volunteers and offered to follow up; staff noted some small grants exist but acknowledged those funds often do not match the scale or locations where volunteers work.

What happens next: Supervisors encouraged River City Waterway Alliance representatives to meet with county staff to explore funding and operational options; several supervisors offered to discuss specific ideas offline.