USRC cleans 1 ton of dry garbage from Sangamon River

In the spring months, when the banks are overflowing through Mahomet, the Sangamon River gets a lot of attention. It floods Barber Park, sometimes causes the main road through Lake of the Woods to close and washes trees from its banks.

Upper Sangamon River Conservancy’s (USRC) President Bruce Colravy said that the floods will also sweep away household items left in the floodplain, carrying them down river, where they pollute the area.

Then, there are others who just dispose of unwanted items in the 246-mile river.

As avid enthusiasts of the Sangamon, the USRC has taken the task of cleaning up areas of the river annually since 2009. 

“Since 2012 we have removed about 16.5 dry tons of garbage from the Sangamon River along with 119 tires,” Colravy said. “We have accomplished this through the generous donation of time and labor from 248 volunteers.”

Last weekend, a smaller group of eight volunteers made their way to the Sangamon near Dewey. Colravy said that the smaller group, usually around 45 volunteers, was by design due to COVID-19 precautions.

“We picked out a couple more tires, a washing machine, a large deflated raft, and quite a lot of lumber,” Colravy said. “We estimate about 1 dry ton of garbage this year. 

“I am sure that someone had construction plans for the lumber that we collected, but they placed it too close to the river and it was carried away. Sometimes, things like the washing machine, is the result of legacy garbage. The deflated inflatable raft was probably the result deciding to use an inflatable raft in the Sangamon River.”

Colravy said that aside from the exceptions of past findings of a car battery, pesticide containers, and carpeting, all of which contain toxins that do significant damage to water quality and aquatic life, the group usually doesn’t find much that does great environmental harm.

“By engaging people to take part in cleaning the river it creates a better aesthetic experience for those that recreate on the river, and the personal involvement of volunteers in the river cleanups often lead to greater advocacy for the river,” Colravy said. “This can result in important change well beyond our clean-up.”

Social media posts with the garbage pulled from the river often heighten the awareness of USRC’s work, but Colravy wants Mahomet residents to know that there is a rich diversity of organisms that in the Sangamon River. 

“The enormous benefits we receive from them extends far beyond the river channel, “ Colravy said. “Our wellbeing is intimately tied to the ability of these fascinating creatures that live there to survive and function properly. Sadly, the 5 animal groups at greatest risk all reside in freshwater habitats. They include in order of most imperilled, freshwater mussels, crayfish, stoneflies, freshwater fish, and amphibians. It is in our own best interest to protect them, as they provide a multitude of services to us such as cleaning our water.”

On August 30, USRC was joined by volunteers that completed an annual mussel survey where 754 mussels were found in a 90 minute search. 

“The mussels represent 16 species including the Flutedshell (Lasmigona costata), an intolerant species, and the recently state-listed Monkeyface (Theliderma metanevre). The catch per unit effort was an impressive 20.65. Even more impressive was a Mussel Classification Index Score (MCI) of 16, which was boosted by having two intolerant species collected during the same survey. This places the Mussel Resource Value as Unique, which is its highest rating and the first time that we had a survey with a rating this high,” a recent USRC Facebook said. 

USRC members, along with other members of the community enjoy using the river for recreational purposes. 

“Another benefit of course is that recreational paddlers not only experience the aesthetic beauty that the river provides, but also the awe inspiring diversity of life that presents itself there,” Colravy added.