Update: Inclement weather forced the James River Basin Partnership on June 10 to postpone the event a week. It is now scheduled to take place on June 17.
When workers from the James River Basin Partnership used to prepare for the annual River Rescue, they would rent a Dumpster specifically for scrap metal volunteers dredged up when they spent a day cleaning up a riverway.
Todd Wilkinson, project manager with JRBP, said there will surely be some metal found along the James River when cleanup participants comb the river June 10, but it's no longer enough to warrant a scrap-designated Dumpster rental.
Low water levels mean the James River Basin Partnership’s annual River Rescue is taking place on a different waterway than organizers had initially planned. In lieu of cleaning up a stretch of the Finley River, participants will clean up the James River at Delaware Town Access in Nixa and tending to 6.5 miles of waterway before unloading whatever flotsam they find at Shelvin Rock Access.
Wilkinson said there’s plenty of trash and debris to pick up along the route, but that it’s a good sign that the metal-only Dumpster has gone by the wayside in recent years. He said there appears to be broader recognition in the past five to 10 years by people to take more responsibility for the Springfield area’s waterways.
At the same time, he said, the growing popularity of floating and paddling in the Ozarks means there are more people in the water, and volunteers this weekend will surely find plastic bottles, cigarette butts and other garbage that some river-goers did not pack out after they packed it in. They’ll also likely pull up tires. Whether there’s another 1980s-era security camera in the water remains to be seen.
“You never know what you’re going to find,” Wilkinson said.
So far, about 90 participants have signed up to clean up the river. That’s around the average number of participants for the annual cleanup, Wilkinson said. All of the James River Basin Partnership’s canoes are booked for Saturday’s cleanup, but people still interested in registering can bring their own watercraft and join in. Wilkinson noted in an email to participants that a scout recently paddled the James and determined the water levels are floatable, and that there’s “plenty of trash.”
The James River Basin Partnership is providing shuttle service from Shelvin Rock Access for volunteers. Information about registration is available here.