Nestled between a shopping center and the rich and highly valued farmland of the Pajaro Valley, is the meandering Corralito’s Creek.

Beneath the Green Valley Bridge, a landscape of willow, oak and towering eucalyptus shade tiny fish that eke out a living in the gravel pools. Unfortunately, over the last number of years this natural landscape not intended for humans, has become a magnet to homeless encampments.

Before the coordinated efforts of the Trash Talkers, City of Watsonville and Santa Cruz County worked independently to monitor the problem but could not address the constant return of individuals who illegally camped in a riparian corridor, leaving drug paraphernalia, human feces, trash, and debris in this sensitive area.  Now working in tandem, both agencies are more effective and coordinated this cleanup. “It’s amazing to see the impact our teams make on the environment when we work together. We met the Sheriffs, Watsonville Works and the County team this morning.” Said John Moreno from City of Watsonville Solid Waste Division. “We pulled out a lot of garbage that was going to end up in the creek, including soap bottles and other pollutants.  A Big win for water quality and the fish that were present.” Continued Moreno.  Wetlands Watch will be involved in developing a future plan for vegetation restoration and control.

The results of this clean up amassed: 2- 8 yard containers, 2 city and 2 county trucks full of garbage cleaned out of Corralito’s Creek.  The encampments have been disbanded and the area is under surveillance to prevent reestablishment.

The above Flyer was for volunteer cleanup day in December of 2021. Since that time, the sensitive Corralito’s Creek area required cleanup over and over again. Now, Trash Talker agencies working together, are effectively addressing the litter problem to keep these areas clean.

Press: https://pajaronian.com/cleanup-highlights-expansion-of-homeless-work-program/

Ongoing Cleanups: City of Watsonville

Trash Talkers would like to highlight the great work of City of Watsonville Solid Waste Division: Led by John Moreno, nine employees take care of 400 acres of city lots, trails, right aways and open space. Public safety and environmental safety is their priority. Seasonal work includes: fire fuel reduction, mowing, habitat restoration and masonry removal, species removal. The Biggest part of their work has become removing litter, shopping carts and illegal encampments from our properties. They spend three days a week with three employees each day doing nothing but cleaning up illegal dumping and camps.

Partnering with other Trash Talker agencies and nonprofits regularly, including Santa Cruz County, Caltrans, the Railroad, and Fish and Wildlife, they are addressing public dumping. Wetlands Watch and other nonprofits help to coordinate cleanups and develop long term solutions. Wetlands Watch helps with the line of sight clearing and restoration projects, that keep environmentally sensitive areas like the slough open. The Police Department and other agencies participate when encampments are being established. Watsonville Works is helping people connect with resources.

Watsonville Works has helped dozens of people move off the streets of Watsonville through volunteering to help clean up the litter and gain resources to find housing, jobs and leave homelessness behind. The Police Department, and mental health make sure it's safe for Solid Waste Division crews to do their job. The city of Watsonville Solid Waste Division has monthly community neighborhood cleanups in the city, —volunteer cleanups every month. We have the Nature Center that does cleanups, and field trip groups around the trails. They are supported by the Parks Department. City of Watsonville has a bulky item pickup program to assist individuals to take their items to the dump at no charge. This will prevent illegal dumping of mattresses, furniture etc.

Every year we pick up thousands of yards of garbage  - 2000 yards last year!