Working with the San Diego River Park Foundation to help clean up the river always feels instantly rewarding. The following before and after photos from this morning’s River Rescue illustrate how easy it is for a small team of people to make a big difference to a heavily impacted site. 

But going back week after week to sites that have been totally trashed can start to feel hard, too. The work we do is important for the ecology and health of the city and its residents, but with the number of people living in the river having increased, it does feel like we are barely managing to maintain a rubbishy status-quo. River residents arrive and move around, regularly building new camps in different parts of the channel. The sections of the river that we clean are often also impacted by more than garbage. Much vegetation seems to have been informally cleared by people to make space for encampments, and a large percentage of the remaining vegetation is seriously invasive. 

To raise my own morale, I paid a visit to a stretch of the river in Santee in eastern San Diego County. I had heard that this area was a bit more restored and was being actively used for recreation by the general public. A healthy system of urban green spaces such as the one I saw in Santee can greatly improve a city’s attractivity while making it more environmentally resilient. I took the last six photos in this article as a reminder of the river’s potential. The sections of the river we clean may also one day provide a broad range of ecological functions, for example by serving as wildlife corridors or as a resting space for migratory species. Many local actors are working to impact the future of the San Diego River, including city representatives, homelessness advocates, law enforcement, property owners, and the River Park Foundation. By making a concerted effort to work together, these organizations can ensure that the entire length of the river one day becomes a beautiful and safe space for city residents to enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities close to their homes.