Tomorow, Oakland will host its 22nd annual Creek to Bay Day as part of California and International Coastal Cleanup Day. Teams of volunteers will clear out waterways, including creeks, streams, lakes, and the shoreline.

Last year, more than 1,000 volunteers removed over 130 cubic yards of trash and cleared over 260 yards of invasive plants at 46 locations.

Fifty sites are registered for cleanup in 2017. “This is the highest number of Creek to Bay Day sites we’ve ever had in the twenty two years of the event,” Jennifer Stern wrote in an email. Stern is an Environmental Stewardship Analyst with Oakland Public Works.

Oakland Public Works asks that sites register for Creek to Bay Day to ensure that all work is done safely and to the benefit of the environment. They also provide tools, supplies, maps, and critically, permission.

Not all Oakland waterways are easily accessible. “Waterway ownership and access varies as the creeks flow through a variety of public and private lands, some open, some fenced, some above and some below ground,” wrote Stern.

Oakland has a strong tradition of volunteer stewardship, most notably the Adopt a Spot program in which volunteers agree to care for parks, open spaces, creeks, sidewalks, rights of way and storm drains. The program is administered by the Department of Public Works and many site coordinators are Adopt a Spot volunteers throughout the rest of the year.

To prepare for Creek to Bay Day, they register a site for clean up and recruit volunteers; Public Works will then coordinate tools, supplies, debris pickups, training and any coordination with relevant city staff.

During tomorrow's event, city workers will visit project sites to check in and troubleshoot problems, with Oakland Public Works and the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District removing all gathered debris.

Volunteers will likely encounter more than just trash; since the re-opening of the Lake Merritt channel, otters, harbor seals, and bat rays have all been seen at the lake. In East Oakland, Stern is especially heartened by the return of steelhead trout and stickleback to Sausal Creek.

“The return of these fish species indicates that the restoration work done by the City of Oakland in partnership with the Friends of Sausal Creek is being successful for water and wildlife,” wrote Stern.

Returning volunteers have been pleased to see the ongoing improvement in their sites from year to year.

“I was very happy to see that not only had the location maintained some beauty from the previous clean-up, but the vegetation was growing back strong where there was once a bunch of trash,” volunteer Jessica Rountree wrote in an email.

For Oaklanders unable to volunteer but interested in doing their part to beautify Oakland, Stern has some simple advice. “Simply putting trash in the right place would help tremendously,” she wrote.

“A lot of folks don’t understand the connection of our cities to the creeks and the oceans and beaches. Understanding this issue and the problem with trash in the environment might help motivate people to dispose of trash properly.”

Litter is a big problem for cities. Cutting back on litter by properly disposing of waste means a cleaner, safer, healthier Oakland for all, and not to mention, a less costly city to clean.