Coosa Riverkeeper effort targets litter, microplastics across creek watershed
Story by Graham Hadley
Photos courtesy of Coosa Riverkeeper
One man’s trash is still another man’s trash – especially along watersheds.
It moves with the water, collecting along banks, lodging in snags, breaking down in the sun and eventually making its way toward the lakes that define much of the Coosa River system.
That connection is at the heart of a new Coosa Riverkeeper effort focused on Choccolocco Creek in Calhoun and Talladega counties. Working in partnership with Auburn University, the organization has received funding for a three-year litter-cleanup program aimed at reducing trash, studying plastic pollution and engaging the people who spend the most time on the water.
Abby Brown, director of community engagement with Coosa Riverkeeper, said the project is designed to do more than remove visible trash. The work is meant to improve water quality and the appearance of the creek while helping people understand how litter affects streams and lakes and the communities around them.
The first stage focused on information gathering. Coosa Riverkeeper and Auburn have surveyed anglers about their knowledge of litter and their habits on the water. Brown said the survey was sent to fishing license holders across Alabama to help establish a better understanding of how people view litter and what might encourage them to change their habits.
The organization also has used drone imagery to identify litter hotspots along the creek, places where trash and debris are already collecting naturally. Those areas may become locations for trash traps once Coosa Riverkeeper is able to work out access with property owners.
At the same time, the group has completed microplastic sampling on Choccolocco Creek to help establish a baseline for plastic pollution in the watershed.
Microplastics are what remain when larger pieces of plastic break down. Brown described the process as similar to what happens with forever chemicals and other persistent pollutants in that the material does not actually biodegrade over time.
“It just kind of gets smaller and smaller and smaller,” she said.
That can include tiny fragments or visible shards from items such as plastic chairs, coolers, floats and other debris left to weather in the sun and water. Once broken apart, the pieces can affect water quality, aquatic life and the overall condition of the creek.
Brown said the sampling will help Coosa Riverkeeper understand how microplastic levels change with the seasons, how much material is carried downstream and whether concentrations differ between rural and developed areas.
The next phase will focus on public engagement. Coosa Riverkeeper plans to host workshops with anglers and other community members to look at ways to reduce litter and improve cleanup efforts. Later, the program will include angler-led cleanups around Choccolocco Creek, especially near litter hotspots and installed trash traps.
Brown said the angling community is a major part of the effort because people who fish are so often the ones who see problems first.
“They really are our eyes and ears,” she said.
Coosa Riverkeeper is working with people who spend time in the watershed and understand what is happening there. Anglers and hunters often are among the first people out in the morning and the last to leave in the evening. They notice illegal dumping, pollution, trash jams and changing conditions.
“I think everyone has a role to play in this,” Brown said.
The trash traps are intended to capture floating litter before it continues downstream. Brown said the design Coosa Riverkeeper expects to use is a floating system shaped like a V, with a crate at the end. The V helps corral floating trash into the collection area.
Coosa Riverkeeper staff and volunteers plan to clean out the traps, likely monthly at first, while monitoring how quickly they fill. Brown said the schedule can be adjusted depending on how much trash is collected.
The traps float on the surface, she said, and are not expected to impede wildlife or recreation.
Property access remains an important part of the project. Coosa Riverkeeper is still looking for homeowners and landowners along Choccolocco Creek who are willing to allow trash traps to be installed where they can do the most good.
The program also is being shaped through conversations with local leaders and stakeholders, working to connect with people who know the watershed and others already involved in creek and conservation work.
For Brown, one of the larger goals is helping people think about the creek and the lakes as one connected system.
“People often see Neely Henry as Neely Henry, Logan Martin as Logan Martin, and the creek beside their property as simply that creek. But water does not recognize those boundaries,” she said.
Coosa Riverkeeper is working to encourage what she called a downstream-neighbor mindset. “We are all downstream neighbors from somebody,” she said.
That idea is especially important on a creek like Choccolocco, which feeds into the larger Coosa system. Trash left along a road, in a ditch or on a creekbank can move downstream during rain and high water events. What starts as a local problem can become a lake problem.
“Our creeks are feeding the lake,” Brown said.
That is why cleanup work on the creeks matters as much as the larger lake cleanups that draw volunteers each year. Removing visible trash before it breaks down is far easier than trying to deal with it later as microplastic pollution.
Brown said the goal is to be proactive, not simply reactive after the damage has already been done.
The project will continue over the next three years as Coosa Riverkeeper gathers data, installs traps, works with landowners and brings more anglers and residents into the process.
Residents interested in allowing access for a trash trap, joining a cleanup or reporting a problem can find information through Coosa Riverkeeper’s website and social media. Brown said people also can contact the organization if they see a trap that appears full or damaged.
For now, she said, the hope is that the Choccolocco Creek community will connect with the project and help protect a waterway that affects more than one town or county.
The cleaner the creek, the cleaner the water downstream, she said.
