Volunteers gather at the Mayor’s Beautification Program’s 22nd Annual Hillsborough River & Waterways Cleanup.
District staff, Governing Board members and their families and friends were among the 1,300 volunteers at this year’s Mayor’s Beautification Program’s 22nd Annual Hillsborough River & Waterways Cleanup.
The annual event is one of Tampa’s largest volunteer activities. Each year volunteers scour dozens of shoreline locations along the Hillsborough River and connected waterways to pick up litter and remove nonnative invasive plants that choke out native species.
The event was held in November and began at Lowry Park. Volunteers removed five tons of garbage and 25 tons of invasive plants and marked 200 storm drains in five Tampa neighborhoods.
More than 50 District staff and friends and family turned out for the cleanup as well as Maritza Rovira-Forino, Governing Board member and co-chair of the Hillsborough River Basin Board.
The cleanup was part of the Hillsborough River Watershed Awareness Month, which is a cooperative effort between the District’s Hillsborough River Basin Board and the Hillsborough River Watershed Alliance.
The goal of Hillsborough River Watershed Awareness Month is to foster good watershed stewardship through several hands-on activities and workshops.