Oxnard– Ventura County Coastal Cleanup Day scored another big win for Oxnard’s Beaches Saturday, September 17, as volunteers came out ready to get involved.
The Friends of the Santa Clara River organized the effort at Fifth and Mandalay Beach Road as the group made their way onto the beach, ready to fill their buckets with trash.
Friends of the Santa Clara River Board Member Candice Meneghan said the group historically cleans McGrath State Park, which is flooded and closed.
“We opted to come to Mandalay as a different access point, but we’re still cleaning up along the coastline, alongside the State Park,” she said. “Friends of the Santa Clara River is part of the Santa Clara River Steelhead Coalition. We chose the Estuary (partially enclosed coastal body of water) location because Estuaries are important to Steelhead recovery.”
Friends of the Santa Clara River have restored and protected natural and cultural resources on the watershed for the last 30 years.
“We do a lot of outreach through an Explore the Coast Grant, and the funding came from the Coastal Conservancy,” she said. “We do outreach and education with local school groups. We take them out to the settling ponds up next to the Estuary. We are also involved in the State’s planning process to enhance and improve the Estuary location because the campground is getting flooded.”
She said the idea is to move the campground and stop the flooding.
“We are in a megadrought, but because of climate change, we have sea level rise,” Meneghan said. “You’re being impacted by all things.”
She said the drought impacts the flowing rivers, but the glaciers and icebergs are melting, causing the sea level to rise.
“In the winter months, we’re getting these higher precipitation events where it’s storming down, and the ground can’t infiltrate the water quick enough,” she said. “What happens is you have flash flooding and flooding in general. That’s why our campground is being inundated with water and needs to be relocated.”
She said activities in the watershed impact the Coastline, so they’re cleaning up inland and along the coast.
She said California Coastal Cleanup Day is the biggest volunteer event in the United States, and it’s a National event.
“I’m from Capetown, South Africa, and I’ve done these back home,” she said. “The whole world is involved today, and ultimately, we use data sheets and collect data on what people are picking up, so we can change policies.”
Things they’re picking up include plastic bags, including single-use plastic bags.
“This year, we even found the microplastics issue is so large that microplastics were found in human blood, which is shocking,” she said. “This is why we bring everybody together, so we can address the plastics threat on the population.”
She said the Big Pacific Trash Patch in the ocean is where the current collects all the plastics.
“What we try to do is address plastic pollution on a local scale but promote advocacy in addressing the plastic concerns and help animals not get entangled in trash,” Meneghan said.
Everyone gets gloves, she said, and first aid is available, so safety is a big priority.
“We also have a sharps container for anything of that nature,” she said. “Disposal of regular trash goes to the landfill.”
Meneghan has two kids, ages 1.5 and 3.5, and she wants them to be safe at the beach.
“I want them to have a degree of stewardship for the local waterway and coastline,” she said. “You only have an appreciation of things if you are exposed to them.”
Miguel was busy filling his collection bucket and doing what he could.
“We need the ocean, the water, and we need those animals,” he said. “I volunteer when I can.”
Ann Bull and Earl Arnold own a home in Oxnard and live close to the beach.
“This is our local beach,” she said. “I have several pieces of what is called single-use plastic, and it really doesn’t break down. There are lots of bottle tops and plastic bottles. The most I’ve found this morning is cigarette butts.”
She is a community member and wants to keep plastics and glass out of the ocean.
“Keep them off our beaches, certainly,” she said. “This is where people come as a community to hang out with our families, do bird watching, and surf fishing.”
She appreciates the Friends of the Santa Clara River and said somebody needs to organize, sponsor, and join.
“That’s one of the good things about the Friends of the Santa Clara River,” she said.
Arnold said taking care of the Coastline is essential.
“It’s part of the environmental impact,” he said. “I’m also a member of a local fly-fishing club, and we support each other.”
For more information about the Friends of the Santa Clara River, visit fscr.org.
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