Rivers Alive cleanup event planned Saturday

ALBANY — Over the past 19 years, volunteers have removed 57.95 tons of debris from the banks and the bed of the Flint River during Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful’s annual Rivers Alive cleanup event.

The environmental group, along with event partners the Flint Riverkeeper and sponsor Molson Coors, plan to add to that total Saturday when it hosts the Rivers Alive cleanup of the Flint River.

“Water is our planet’s most precious resource,” KADB Executive Director Jwana Washington said in a news release. “It is incumbent upon each of us to do our part to protect our water from pollution for our citizens as well as for our abundant wildlife population.”

Bank walkers, who will pick up debris alongside the Flint, will meet at the Albany Visitors Bureau Welcome Center at 112 N. Front St. at 8:30 a.m. Those collecting debris from the Flint in canoes and kayaks are asked to meet at the Georgia Power Dam at 9:30 a.m.

Rivers Alive is a statewide cleanup program sponsored by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the state’s Environmental Protection Division, and the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation. Rivers Alive encourages cleanup along all 70,150 miles of Georgia’s rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands. The campaign’s intent is to create awareness of Georgia’s water resources through hands-on involvement.

Interested volunteers can register for Saturday’s local Rivers Alive event by calling Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful at (229) 302-3098.

File Photo: David Dixon